s®>£ 


FROM    THE   LIBRARY   OF 


REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 


BEQUEATHED    BY   HIM   TO 


THE    LIBRARY   OF 


PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


Section         If 


REV.     JOSEPH    COOK. 


4;  «S 


TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 


A  HISTORY  OF 

AMERICAN  REVIVALS 

FROM  1740  TO  1877, 
With  their  Philosophy  and  Methods. 

REV.  CHARLES  L.  THOMPSON,  D.  D.,  CHICAGO. 

EDITOR  OF  THE  INTERIOR. 

CHICAGO: 

M.   W.    SMITH     &     CO. 

1877. 


Copyrighted  by 
L.  T.  PALMER  &  CO 

A    D.  1877. 


la  gij  go%r, 


WHOSE    PRAYERS    FOR    THE    KINGDOM    FIRST 

INSPIRED    AN    INTEREST    IN    IT, 

THIS    ATTEMPT    TO    MARK    SOME    SIGNS    THAT    HERALD 

ITS    COMING 

IS 

AFFECTIONATELY    INSCRIBED    BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


In  presenting  this  book  on  American  Revivals  the  author  is 
very  conscious  that  he  has  not  compassed  his  subject.  He  has 
written  in  the  hope  of  helping  the  Church  in  her  present  revival 
work.  He  has  therefore  given  much  space  to  an  account  of 
present  revival  movements.  Such  an  account  must  of  necessity 
be  rather  of  the  nature  of  a  sketch  than  of  a  history.  The  limits 
of  this  book  have  forbidden  any  exhaustive  consideration  of  the 
early  history  of  revivals  in  this  country.  Indeed,  it  has  hardly  been 
necessary  to  the  purpose  in  view,  which  has  been  to  show  the 
thread  of  common  teaching  and  endeavor  running  through  all 
these  years.  While  methods  have  differed  in  different  periods, 
the  essential  elements  of  Divine  Truth  and  Divine  Grace  are  the 
same  at  all  times. 

Amid  the  whirl  of  the  revival  scenes  of  this  day,  it  would  be 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  write  an  abiding  history  of  these 
times.  That  can  better  be  done  in  the  perspective  of  other  days. 
That  has  not  been  attempted.  The  practical  aim  of  furthering 
the  gospel  by  giving  a  report  of  its  triumphs  has  been  steadily 
held  in  view. 

As  a  season  of  revival  is  one  of  great  encouragement,  so  it  has  been 
hoped  the  history  of  God's  dealing  with  the  American  church 
in  this  regard  would  be  a  mighty  stimulus  for  future  activity  and 
conquest.  It  seems  a  token  of  good,  and  an  indication  of  great 
hope  for  the  future,  that  the  first  century  of  our  Republic  should 
close,  and  the  second  open,  on  a  time  like  this,  when  God  has 
arisen  to  shake  mightily  the  earth,  when  the  Divine  Spirit  is 


VI  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

present  with  saving  power  among  His  people,  when  in  the  sym- 
bolic but  significant  language  of  Scripture,  there  is  distinctly 
11  heard  the  sound  of  a  going  in  the  tops  of  the  mulberry  trees." 
The  author  has  wished  to  show  that  present  revivals  have  deep 
roots  running  through  a  hundred  years  of  history,  and  while 
bearing  that  individuality  which  every  genuine  popular  move- 
ment must  have,  they  share  with  preceding  revivals  of  our  na- 
tional history  those  common  marks  of  divine  truth  and  spiritual 
power  which  are  the  unvarying  signs  of  the  Spirit's  work. 
If  thus  the  wonderful  revivals  of  the  past  two  years  can  be 
shown  to  be  at  once  the  culmination  of  broad  peparations,  the 
fruit  of  a  slow  growth,  and  the  special  need  of  the  church 
in  our  country  at  this  time,  somewhat  may  be  contributed  to 
such  faith  in  the  truth  and  power  of  present  movements  as  will 
tend  to  continue  and  extend  them  throughout  the  nation.  So 
may  the  church  of  America  enter  upon  her  unused  heritage  of 
truth,  and  gather  the  Eschol  vintage,  not  as  an  exceptional  evidence 
of  how  rich  is  the  kingdom,  but  as  its  full  and  regular  harvest. 

Especially  if  it  has  been  shown  in  the  light  of  revival  histories, 
that  God  freely  honors  His  truth,  and  is  ever  ready  to  open  the 
windows  of  heaven,  when  the  church  accepts  the  condition, 
should  it  not  encourage  all  God's  people  to  expect  revivals  as  the 
mariner  expects  the  tides  ?  Our  God  is  not  the  God  of  confusion, 
but  of  order  and  law.  To  fall  into  harmony  with  his  laws  of 
grace,  whether  iii  ordinary  or  special  endeavors  for  the  kingdom 
ot  Christ,  i-s  to  advance  with  the  force  and  order  of  those  laws. 

Since  the  days  of  Nehemiah  there  has  not  been  a  revival  more 
singly  <>r  purely  built  on  the  study  of  God's  Word,  than  that 
which  now  is  gladdening  so  many  parts  of  the  country.  If  we 
will  learn  that  the  secrel  of  Israel's  joy  may  be  repeated  and  con- 
tinued by  Israel's  method  of  bringing  and  keeping  before  the 
people  the  law  of  the  Lord,  we  shall  boon  the  eve  of  such  a  work 
of  grace  as  by  it-  permanence,  breadth  and  depth,  will  deserve 
the  name,  less  of  a  revival  than  of  a  new  departure  for  the  church 


PREFACE.  Vll 

of  God.  We  shall  yield  to  that  central  current  of  Bible  study  and 
Bible  living  which  since  the  days  of  the  Captivity  has  swept  to 
itself  and  borne  onward  in  triumph  the  best  life  of  the  church — 
the  best  results  of  human  history. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Temperance  Reform  is  a  factor  of  rising 
value  and  influence  in  the  general  revival  tendencies  of  the  age,  a 
special  place  has  been  given  it  in  this  history.  Of  this  work,  as 
of  other  phases  of  the  revival,  only  a  tentative  judgment  can  now 
be  given,  but  facts  and  present  results  may  be  of  some  value  to  a 
more  distant  and  historic  review,  as  well  as  of  some  utility  to 
those  who  look  to  Gospel  Temperance  in  some  form  as  the  best 
hope  of  society  in  its  struggle  with  the  most  gigantic  of  its  foes. 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  obligations  for  valuable  aid 
to  Prof.  L.  J.  Halsey,  D.  D.,  of  Chicago ;  Prof.  Henry  Cowles,  D.  D ., 
of  Oberlin,  O .,  and  Rev.  C.  H.  Richards,  of  Madison,  Wis.  The  fol- 
lowing books,  among  others,  have  been  consulted  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  work:  Kirk's  Lectures  on  Revivals,  Headley's  Har- 
vest Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Earle's  Bringing  in  Sheaves,  Tracy's 
Great  Awakening,  Fish's  Hand-Book  of  Revivals,  Townsend's 
Supernatural  Factor  in  Revivals,  Humphrey's  Revival  Sketches 
and  Manual,  Tyerman's  Life  of  Whitefield,  D.  W.  Whittle's  Mem- 
oirs of  P.  P.  Bliss,  Life  of  Nettleton,  Life  of  Daniel  Baker,  Stev- 
ens' History  of  Methodism,  Hodge's  History  of  Presbyterianism, 
Presbyterianism  in  Central  New  York,  Daniels'  Life  of  Moody, 
Modern  Evangelists,  Headley's  American  Evangelists,  Centennial 
Temperance  Volume,  Autobiography  of  Finney,  Life  of  Knapp, 
Life  of  Caughey  and  others. 

That  the  Master  may  bless  this  book  to  the  quickening  of  his 
people,  to  their  increase  in  faith  and  holy  courage,  that  the 
"  Times  of  Refreshing"  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  may  cover 
all  seasons,  water  all  the  earth,  and  bring  that  time  for  which  all 
times  were  made,  when  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall  cover 
the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  deep,  is  the  prayer  of 

The  Author. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


I.  Portrait  of  Whitefield. 

II.  "  "    Daniel  Baker. 

III.  "  «    C.  G.  Finney. 

IV.  «  «    E.P.Hammond. 
V.  «  «    D.  L.  Moody. 

VI.  «  "    IraD.Sankey. 

VII.  «  «    Maj.  D.  W.  Whittle. 

VIII.  "  «    Philip  Paul  Bliss. 

IX.  "  "    Francis  Murphy. 

X.  "  "    Miss  Frances  E.  Willard. 

XI.  "  "    Rev,  Joseph  Cook. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Law  in  revivals.  Philosophy  of  revivals.  What  is  a  revival? 
Dr.  Kirk.  Dr.  Barnes.  Mr.  Finney.  Essential  elements 
of  revivals.  Holy  Spirit.  Announced  in  Scripture.  Con- 
firmed by  experience.  The  truth  of  God.  What  truths 
most  prominent.  The  Church  on  earth.  Human  agency 
in  every  revival.  Varying  elements  in  revivals.  Social 
or  national  conditions.  Intellectual  conditions.  Illustra- 
tions. Pentecost  and  Reformation.  Great  variety  in  re- 
vivals.    One  law  for  them  all.     Duty  of  obedience  to  it. .     13 

CHAPTER  II. 

REVIVALS   UNDER    WHITEFIELD 

Beginning  of  Revivals  in  this  country.  Religious  con- 
dition. Preaching  ot  Edwards.  Revival  at  Northamp- 
ton; at  Freehold,  N.  J.,  under  the  Tennents;  at  New 
Londonderry,  Pa.,  New  Brunswick,  Newark,  N.  J.,  Harv- 
ard, Mass.  'End  of  the  night.  Whitefield.  Birth.  Edu- 
cation. Religious  experience.  Comparison  between 
Whitefield  and  Luther.  First  sermons.  Characteristics. 
Removes  to  Savannah.  Return  to  England.  Back  again. 
Wm.  Tennent,  Sr.  Gilbert  Tennent.  Whitefield  in  New 
York,  Philadelphia.  Anecdotes  by  Franklin.  Effect  of 
Whitefield's  preaching.  Savannah.  New  England.  Work 
in  Boston.  Other  towns.  Physical  effects.  Nervous 
action.  Explanation.  Return  to  England.  Back  to  Bos- 
ton. Opposition.  Faculty  of  Harvard  College.  His  itin- 
eracy. Colloquy  between  Whitefield  and  Wm.  Tennent. 
Last  evangelistic  tour.  Anecdote.  Last  sermon.  Death. 
Secrets  of  his  power.  Place  as  a  preacher.  General  re- 
sults of  the  revivals.  Number  of  converts.  Educational 
effects.     Evangelism 37 

CHAPTER  III. 

REVIVAL   OF    l800. 

Antecedent  condition.  Political  and  religious.  Prevalence  of 
infidelity.    Revival  came  suddenly.    Little  human  agency. 


X  CONTENTS. 

Testimony  of  Dr.  Griffin.  Experience  of  leading  minis- 
ters at  that  time.  Spiritual  experience  of  the  converts. 
Tone  of  the  preaching.  Rev.  Moses  Hallock.  Dr.  Por- 
ter. Dr.  Wood.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason.  Revival  in  New- 
ark. In  Hampden-Sidney  College.  Dr.  Wm.  Hill.  Dr. 
Alexander.  The  work  in  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tenne- 
see.  Rev.  James  McGready's  account.  Revivals  in 
North  and  South  Carolina.  Dr.  Foote's  account.  Revivals 
in  Western  Pennsylvania  and  Eastern  Ohio.  Character- 
istics of  them.  Beginning  of  modern  missions.  Leading 
features 67 

CHAPTER  IV. 

REV.  ASAHELNETTLETON  AND  HIS    EVANGELISTIC   WORK. 

Epoch  of  revivals.  Revivals  in  colleges.  Duration  of  the 
period.  Testimony  of  Dr.  Spring;  of  Dr.  Humphrey. 
Presence  of  the  Spirit.  Birth.  Education  and  experience 
of  Nettleton.  Purpose  to  be  a  missionary.  How  diverted 
from  it.  Beginning  of  evangelistic  labors.  His  services 
from  1S12  to  1822.  Amount  of  his  labors.  Dr.  Sprague's 
testimony.  Summary  of  his  work.  Saratoga  Springs. 
Nassau.  New  Haven.  North  Killingworth.  Eastern 
Connecticut.  Laid  aside.  Continues  to  preach.  Goes 
South.  Revivals  there.  Testimony  of  Dr.  John  H.  Rice. 
Incident.  Return  to  New  England.  Appointed  professor 
at  East  Windsor.  Death.  His  meihods.  His  caution. 
Manner  of  preaching.  Illustrations.  Permanent  effects 
of  his  work 92 

CHAPTER  V. 

DANIEL   BAKER,    THE    SOUTHERN    EVANGELIST. 

Daniel  Baker — Compared  with  Nettleton  and  Whitefield. 
Biographical  sketch.  Education.  Licensed  to  preach. 
Pastoral  charges.  Evangelistic  tours  in  many  states. 
Austin  College,  Texas.  Visits  to  East  and  results.  Re- 
signing pastorates  to  do  evangelistic  work.  Labors  in 
Prince  Edward.  Results.  Secret  of  his  power.  Early 
ideal  of  preaching.  Catholic  Spirit.  Influence  on  young 
men.  Testimony  to  his  character.  Conservative.  Re- 
lation to  pastors.  A  life  of  faith.  Style  of  his  preaching. 
Mr.  Moody's  suggestion.  Personal  appearance.  Extract 
from  memoir.     Christianity  the  inspiration  of  his  life 116 

CHAPTER  VI. 

REVIVALS  \JNDER    FINNEY. 

Centering  in  Personal  influence.  Birth  of  Finney.  Early 
education.    Study  and  practice  of  law.    His  religious  ex- 


CONTENTS.  XI 

perience.  Remarkable  revelations.  Baptism  of  the 
Spirit.  Justification  by  faith.  Mr.  Finney's  power 
as  related  to  his  conversion.  Closing  his  law  busi- 
ness. His  personal  experience  in  prayer.  Extract 
from  autobiography.  Absurdity  of  unbelief.  The  truths 
he  preached  most  prominently.  His  views  of  grace 
and  conscience.  Studying  theology.  Bible,  the  fountain  of 
it.  First  commission  to  preach.  Meeting  at  Evans  Mills. 
Remarkable  interest.  Meetings  in  northern  New  York, 
at  Rome,  Utica,  Rochester.  Labors  in  other  cities.  View 
of  his  revival  work  by  Dr.  Chas.  P.  Bush.  Characteristics 
as  a  preacher.  Results  of  his  work.  Personal  character- 
istics. Testimony  of  Prof.  Cowles  as  to  salient  points  of 
revival  labors 133 

CHAPTER  VII. 

REVIVALS   OF    1857-8. 

Human  agency  and  divine  energy.  A  Providential  revival. 
The  national  condition  in  1857.  Financial  panic  and 
crash.  Public  confidence  undermined.  Men  begin  to 
pray.  Origin  of  Fulton  Street  meeting.  Rapid  growth. 
Testimony  of  a  business  man.  Effect  of  prayer  on  busi- 
ness circles.  Systematic  visitation.  Extact  from  Dr. 
Conant's  Revival  Incidents.  Sunday  school  conven- 
tions. Meetings  at  Burton's  theatre.  Progress  of  the 
work  in  New  York.  The  Jayne's  Hall  meeting  in  Phil- 
adelphia. Great  audiences.  The  daily  press  reports. 
Extent  of  the  revival  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  and 
other  Western  states.  Revival  in  Boston  under  Finney. 
Throughout  New  England.  Leading  features  of  the  work. 
Prayer  and  union  efforts.  Rev.  Jacob  Knapp.  Work  in 
Boston  and  Chicago,  &c.  Characteristics.  Testimony  of 
Dr.  Kirk.  Rev.  A.  B.  Earle.  Testimony  of  Dr.  Fish.  Mrs. 
Maggie  N.  Van  Cott 157 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

REVIVALS    UNDER    REV.    E.    P.    HAMMOND. 

Birth.  Conversion.  Education.  Tour  abroad.  Labors  in  Mussel- 
burgh, Scotland,  Glasgow,  etc.  Return.  Labors  in  Boston, 
Portland,  etc.  Great  work  in  Rochester.  Permanence  of 
results.  Other  places  East.  Goes  West.  Beloit,  Wis. 
Ordained.  Work  in  Brooklyn,  Utica.  etc.  Philadelphia, 
etc.  Large  work  in  Springfield,  111.  In  1866,  went  abroad. 
Scotland.  England.  Italy.  Egypt.  Palestine.  Work 
in  London.  Return  home.  Again  in  Rochester.  Revivals 
in  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati,  Evansville,  etc.  Great  work 
in  St.  Louis.  In  1875,  great  revivals  in  Washington,  Har- 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

risburgh,  and  through  the  Cumberland  Valley.  1876-7, 
Syracuse,  Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y.,  etc.  Sources  of  his  success. 
Character  of  preaching,  as  to  matter  and  manner.  His 
generalship.  His  enthusiasm.  A  pioneer  in  the  work 
among  children i75 

CHAPTER  IX. 

MODERN  EVANGELISM. 

Age  of  revivals  through  Evangelism.  What  is  Evangelism? 
Two  Greek  words.  To  herald.  To  Evangelize.  When, 
and  how  used.  Two-fold  nature  of  preaching.  Relations 
of  the  ministry  to  the  church.  Two  extremes.  Neander. 
Lay  preaching  not  an  innovation.  Special  opportunities. 
The  world  larger  and  accessible.  Need  of  more  voices. 
Strictures  on  lay  preaching.  "  Disparages  the  ministry." 
"  Evangelists  are  ignorant."  "  Unhealthy  excitement." 
Best  field  for  lay  preachers.     Duty  of  the  church 195 

CHAPTER  X. 

MOODY    IN   GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Moody's  birth.  Education.  Business  experience.  Early  re- 
ligious struggles.  Conversion.  Removal  West.  First 
work  in  Chicago.  North-market  mission.  Seeking  the 
lost.  Preaching  in  a  saloon.  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Rise  of.  Re- 
sults. Moody's  work  in  it.  Learning  to  preach.  Work 
among  soldiers.  At  the  front.  Noon-day  prayer  meet- 
ing. Farwell  Hall.  Burned  and  rebuilt.  Meets  Sankey. 
They  go  to  England.  Meetings  in  York,  Sunderland, 
NewCastle,  Edinburgh;  success  there.  Free  Assembly 
Hall.  Testimonies.  Andrew  Thomson.  Andrew  and 
Horatius  Bonar.  Glasgow.  Character  of  Moody's  preach- 
ing there,  Dublin.  Manchester.  Sheffield/  Birming- 
ham. Liverpool.  London.  Criticism  and  summary  by 
Dr.  Dale 212 

CHAPTER  XI. 

MOODY    AND    SANKEY     IN    BROOKLYN,    PHILADELPHIA     AND   NEW 
YORK. 

Beginning  in  Brooklyn,  Opening  words.  Prayer  meetings 
and  Bible  readings.  General  results.  Not  time  enough. 
Touching  incident.  Philadelphia.  Great  success.  Christian 
Convention.  Testimony  ot  Gorge  H.  Stuart.  Closing 
me  tings.  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  John  Wanamaker.  New  York. 
The  Hippodrome.  Opening  services.  The  Temperance 
work.     Dom  Pedro.     Results.     Words  of  N.  Y.  Tribune.  246 


CONTENTS.  xiij 

CHAPTER  XII. 

MOODY  &  SANKEY   IN   CHICAGO. 

Preparing  for  work.  The  Tabernacle.  The  first  service. 
Three  years  and  their  changes.  Mr.  Moody's  growth.' 
The  opening  sermon.  Overflow  meeting.  "  The  Interior." 
Unity  of  the  churches.  The  doctrines  preached.  The 
test  of  faith.  Mr.  Moody  called  away.  The  meetings  go 
on.  Directed  to  Christians.  Mr.  Whittle  in  charge.  Mr. 
Moody's  return.  Great  meetings.  The  first  inquiry 
meeting.  Increase  of  interest.  Extract  from  a  sermon. 
The  classes  reached.  Hardened  sinners.  The  temperance 
work.  The  sixth  week.  Children  converted.  Number 
of  meetings.  The  interest  spreads.  Incidents.  A  little 
girl  and  her  father.  Conversion  of  Mr.  A.  The  Christian 
convention.  Question  drawer.  Closing  hours.  Prayer 
Alliance.  Reaching  the  masses.  Death  of  Bliss.  Criti- 
cism of  the  work.  Case  of  conscience.  Farewell 
meeting.     Moody's  address.     Analysis  of  his  power 261 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

MOODY   AND   SANKEY   IN   BOSTON. 

How  they  began.  First  meeting.  How  they  met  the  skeptic 
ism  of  Boston.  Anecdote  of  Dr.  Duff.  First  prayer 
meetings.  Progress.  Extract  from  a  leading  journal. 
Co-operation.  Rev.  Joseph  Cook.  Extract  from  a  lec- 
ture. Discouragements.  Criticisms.  A  flanking  move- 
ment. Visitation.  Meetings  for  special  classes.  Their 
success.  Prayer-meetings  all  over  the  city.  Address  to 
the  churches  of  New  England.  Preparation  for  wider 
movement  Last  week.  Extract  from  sermon.  Wo- 
men's meeting.  Market  men's  meeting  at  Faneuil  Hall. 
Moody's  address.  Extract  from  Gen.  John  L.  Swift's  ad- 
dress. Increasing  throngs.  Moody's  sermon  on  "  Tekel." 
The  closing  day.  Sermon  to  women.  Extract.  Measure 
of  the  harvest.  Comparison  between  Chicago  and  Boston. 
The  same.  Temperance  work.  Effect  on  public  morals. 
Liberty.     Arrangements  to  carry  on  the  work 292 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

REVIVALS   AND  SACRED   SONG. 

Place  of  emotion.  Truth  as  rousing  emotion.  Teaching  pow- 
er of  hymns.  Early  history  of  song.  During  the  reform- 
ation. Luther's  hymns.  English  hymns.  Sacred  song 
fin  this  country.  In  1740.  In  Nettleton's  time.  Best 
hymns  tne  1  esull  of  revival.    Handel.    Wesley.    Cowper. 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

Ray  Palmer.  Philip  Phillips.  P.  P.  Bliss.  Early  experi- 
ence. Meeting  Moody  and  Whittle.  Dr.  Goodwin's 
testimony.  Meetings  m  Waukegan,  Rockford.  Inci- 
dents connected  with  hymns.  Meetings  at  Jackson. 
Madison.  Sankey.  Birth.  Religious  experience.  Meets 
Moody.  Goes  to  Chicago.  Incidents.  Abroad  with 
Moody.  Effect  of  the  singing  in  Scotland.  Testimony. 
Dr.  Thompson.  Daily  Edinburgh  review.  Mr.  Morgan 
and  others.  Sankey 's  views  on  Church  music.  Freer 
use  of  sacred  music  in  revivals.  Character  of  the  music. 
In  the  Sunday  school 3I8 

CHAPTER   XV. 

BIBLE   PREACHING,    READING   AND    STUDY. 

Bible  preaching.  Bible  readings  and  Bible  study.  Place  of 
the  Bible  in  revivals.  The  one  book.  Bible  in  the  pulpit. 
Historic  sketch.  Evangelists  and  the  Bible.  Preaching 
in  Biblical  forms.  Variety,  freshness  and  vitality.  Preach- 
ing the  whole  Bible.  Bible  readings.  Harry  More- 
house. Character  of  his  readings.  Morehouse  and 
Moody.  Rev.  George  C.  Needham.  Conditions  of  good 
Bible  readings.  Topical  study  of  the  Bible.  Subject 
study.  Study  of  particular  books.  Three  essentials. 
Careful  preparation.  Use  of  illustrations.  Reliance  on 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Bible  study.  Social  study  of  the  Bible. 
Bible  classes.  Wider  range  of  knowledge.  Illuminated 
by  experience.     Promotes  revivals  of  religion 356 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

INQUIRY    MEETINGS. 

Essential  idea.  Scriptural  examples.  Modern  form.  When  first 
introduced.  Necessity  for  them.  Nature  of  the  gospel.  Per- 
sonalism.  Scripture  illustrations.  Constitution  of  human 
mind.  Human  influence  on  level  lines.  Objects  of  inquiry 
meetings.  Ascertain  state  of  revival.  To  lead  to  decision. 
Workers  in  inquiry  meetings.  Personal  experience.  Love 
for  souls.  Wisdom.  When  to  have  them.  Church  should 
make  more  of  them.  Should  one  be  held  after  every  service? 
Suppose  religious  awakening.  Conversation  meeting  al- 
ways possible.     How  to  conduct.     Moody.     Whittle 37S 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

WOMAN    IN    REVIVALS. 

The  Home.  Woman's  throne.  Two  new  channels  for  her 
work.    Woman's  mission  societies.     Woman's  Temper- 


CONTENTS.  XV 

ance  union.  Its  origin.  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard.  Ob- 
ject of  the  "Union."  Plans  of  work.  Bethel  home. 
Burr  mission.  Outside  work.  Incidents.  Permanence 
of  the  work.  Bible  work.  The  basis  of  it.  Biole-readers. 
Their  work.  Summary  for  1876.  Miss  Emily  Dryer. 
A  field  for  Christian  women.  Woman  in  inquiry  room. 
Peculiar  qualifications.  Tact.  Spiritual  intuition.  Con- 
ditions of  success.  With  whom  should  women  converse? 
Incident  of  conversation  with  a  skeptic 395 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE. — ITS    RISE,    PROGRESS   AND   METHODS. 

Beginning  of  the  woman's  praying  crusade.  Its  progress. 
Reason  for  it.  Good  effects.  Organization.  National 
Temperance  Union.  Its  history.  Progress  in  various 
states.  Plans  of  work.  Prayer.  Gospel  Temperance. 
Moody's  temperance  work  'in  New  York,  Chicago. 
Charles  W.  Sawyer.  His  experience.  His  work.  Find- 
ing "  Scotch  Willie."  Breadth  of  the  work.  Incidents. 
Results  in  Chicago.  The  work  in  Boston.  The  first 
Friday  meeting  there.  Mr.  Moody's  address.  Subsequent 
meetings.  Gospel  temperance  convention.  Dr.  Curler's 
address.  John  B.  Gough.  Requests  tor  prayer.  Moody's 
question  drawer.  Taking  away  the  appetite.  Testimonies 
of  its  entire  destruction.  Witnesses  who  say  it  remains. 
Others  who  are  unconscious  of  it.  The  Pledge  revival. 
Francis  Murphy.  His  experience.  Beginning  of  his 
work.  Pittsburgh.  The  work  in  Western  Pennsylvania. 
In  New  York.  Description  of  a  meeting  in  Philadelphia. 
Michigan.  The  red  and  blue  ribbon  movement.  Dr. 
Henry  A.  Reynolds.  His  experience.  Methods.  Secret 
of  success.  Results.  Action  of  legislature.  Moody  and 
Murphy.  Christ  and  humanity.  Sign  of  the  times. 
Lesson  for  the  Church 415 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

REVIEW  AND   PROSPECT. 

Human  and  divine  elements.  The  two  ends  of  revivals.  Con- 
version and  sanctification.  Unity  of  Church  on  these 
points.  Harmony  of  essential  doctrines.  Differences  of 
topic  and  form.  In  what  sense  progress  in  theology.  The 
enlarging  science  of  it.  Variations  caused  by  conditions  in 
Church  and  world .  The  conscience.  Preaching  of  Ed- 
wards' time.  The  shaping  condition  now  a  denial  of 
Christ.  Combined  assault  on  this  central  position.  Christ- 
ological  preaching.     Its  bearing  on  revivals.     Immediate 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

and  personal  effect.  u  Coming  to  Christ."  Meaning, 
depth  and  power  of  it.  Conscience-arousing,  because  it 
gives  a  firm  moral  base.  Increase  of  preachers.  Lay- 
preaching.  Conventions  and  associations.  Woman's 
work.  The  Sunday  school.  Machinery.  The  press,  etc. 
Tabernacles.  Generalship.  Adaptation  of  work  to  all 
classes.  Revivals  becoming  permanent  factors  of  nation- 
al influence.  The  perplexing  social  problems.  Not  met 
by  philosophy  or  morals,  but  by  Christianity.  How  re- 
vivals have  saved  the  nation  in  the  past.  Hope  for  the 
future 


464 


CHAPTER  FIRST. 

INTRODUCTION. 

From  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  this  year  of  grace 
there  have  been  great  religious  movements  called  re- 
vivals. They  have,  in  many  respects,  been  different 
from  the  steady  and  regular  progress  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ.  Let  us  inquire  whether  they  are  consist- 
ent and  harmonious  with  the  ordinary  laws  of  spir- 
itual increase,  or  whether  they  antagonize  them. 
Are  they  parts  of  a  spiritual  plan,  or  are  they  varia- 
tions from  it?  Astronomers  have  from  time  to  time 
been  puzzled  by  apparent  movements  of  heavenly 
bodies  that  seemed  to  be  at  variance  with  established 
laws.  A  closer  observation  has  disclosed  that  these 
very  irregularities  are  parts  of  the  broad  plan  of  the 
heavens,  and  like  discords  in  music,  tend  to  the  finest 
and  best  harmony  of  celestial  laws.  Eclipses  are 
regarded  by  savages  as  portents  of  evil,  wholly  aside 
from  the  movement  of  planets  and  suns.  Somewhat 
in  this  light  many  have  looked  upon  revivals  of  relig- 
ion. If  they  were  not  signs  of  evil  to  the  church, 
they  were  at  best  abnormal  action  of  religious  forces 
always  doubtful  in  the  blessings  they  produce,  often 
of  preponderating  harm  to  the  cause  they  were  meant 
to  subserve.     It  were  idle  to  deny  there  have  been 


14  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

such  revivals.  They  are  the  necessary  human  infirm- 
ity that  accompanies  every  great  work.  There  is  a 
philosophic  reason  for  them,  a  reason  which  Dr.  Kirk 
has  suggested  thus:  "When  the  plans  of  Providence 
are  approaching  their  maturity,  and  some  new  truth 
is  about  to  enter  the  current  of  human  thought,  there 
are  found  persons  of  peculiar  temperament,  who  are 
among  the  first  to  feel  the  approaching  change,  and 
seize  the  idea,  in  its  fragmentary  form  of  manifesta- 
tion, and  who  pluck  the  unripe  fruit,  and  poison 
themselves  and  others  with  its  crude  juices.  Elated 
with  their  discovery,  they  attack  the  established  order 
and  convictions  rudely  and  unwisely,  and  present  the 
coming  truth  in  caricature." 

Nevertheless,  the  truth  carries  its  own  light  with  it, 
and  furnishes  the  counter-action  incident  to  its  con- 
nection with  human  agency.  Spurious  revivals  can- 
not disprove  the  genuine.  Popular  objections  that 
are  urged  against  popular  extravagances,  or  bad 
methods,  fall  powerless  against  the  fundamental  idea 
of  a  true  revival  of  religion.  Therefore,  though 
there  have  been  man-made — and  therefore  evil — revi- 
vals, and  though  many  others  have  had  such  an  infu- 
sion of  evil  human  elements  as  largely  to  neutralize 
their  good,  let  us  at  the  opening  of  our  history  find, 
if  we  can,  some  standing  ground  of  general  princi- 
ples, from  which  we  may  not  only  view  the  separate 
movements,  but  get  a  conception  of  some  common 
law  to  which  they  move.  Dr.  Bonar  says:  "Viewed 
on  the  human  side,  the  philosophy  of  revivals,  as 
they  term  it,  is  just  a  department  of  the  philosophy 
of  history.     In  nu  region  has  progress  been  uniformly 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

steady  and  gradual;  but  it  lias  been  now  and  then  by- 
great  strides,  by  fits  and  starts,  and  such  events  as 
the  Germans  call  epoch-making.  In  all  the  affairs 
of  men  there  have  been  tides  with  full  floods.  Every 
channel  along  which  human  energies  pour  themselves 
has  had  its  'freshets.'  We  are  all  familiar  with  revi- 
vals in  trade,  science,  literature,  arts  and  politics. 
Times  of  refreshing  and  visitation  are  not  much  more 
frequent  in  sacred  than  in  secular  history;  and  they 
indicate  the  most  interesting  and  fruitful  periods  in 
both." 

The  law  being  reached,  obedience  to  it  will  be  our 
high  and  constant  duty.  If  the  farmer  would  have 
a  joyous  harvest  home,  when  the  yellow  light  of  the 
harvest  moon  begins  to  tinge  the  fields  and  skies,  let 
him  observe  the  laws  of  nature.  Let  him  work  with 
sunlight  and  rain  and  change  of  season.  To  oppose 
the  laws  of  seed-time,  to  neglect  the  laws  of  summer- 
growth,  is  to  plan  for  barren  fields  and  empty  gar- 
ners. If  we  would  rejoice  before  the  Lord  according 
to  the  joy  of  spiritual  harvest,  let  us  fall  under  the 
power  of  God's  spiritual  laws — wide  as  His  universe 
— unfailing  as  His  nature.  If  we  shall  touch  this 
law  we  will  understand  that  true  revivals  are  not  the 
flush  of  emotional  life.  As  harvest  has  summer  and 
spring  behind  it,  pushing  out  its  sheaves,  tinging  its 
skies,  writing  flame-colors  along  its  fields,  so  we  will 
see  that  every  work  of  grace  has  years  of  ripening 
history  behind  it;  seed-time  and  growth  prepare  its 
flush  of  harvest  time  and  herald  its  song  of  joy. 

What  is  a  revival  of  religion?  Dr.  Kirk  says: 
"A  Revival  is  the  result  of  special  impulses  on  the 


16  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

religious  sensibilities  of  a  community,  characterized 
by  these  features, — a  change,  a  religious  change, 
wrought  by  the  supernatural  action  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  tending  to  the  advancement  of  true  religion, 
directly  or  indirectly."  Another  defines  revivals  of 
religion  as:  "Times  of  spiritual  awakening,  when 
different  classes  in  community  have  their  attention 
directed  to  the  great  subject  of  salvation,  and  earn- 
estly desire  to  lay  up  their  treasure  in  heaven." 
Dr.  Barnes  speaks  more  fully,  thus:  "Take  the 
case  of  a  single  true  conversion  to  God  and  extend 
it  to  a  community — to  mawy  individuals  passing 
through  that  change,  and  you  have  all  the  theory  of 
a  revival  of  religion.  It  is  bringing  together  many 
conversions;  arresting  simultaneously  many  minds; 
perhaps  condensing  into  a  single  place,  and  into  a 
few  weeks,  the  ordinary  work  of  many  distant  places 
and  many  years.  The  essential  part  is,  that  a  sinner 
may  be  converted  by  the  agency  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
from  his  sins.  The  same  power  which  changes  him, 
may  change  others  also.  Let  substantially  the  same 
views  and  feelings  and  changes  which  exist  in  the 
case  of  the  individual,  exist  in  the  case  of  others; 
Let  a  deep  seriousness  pervade  a  community,  and  a 
spirit  of  prayer  be  diffused  there;  let  the  ordinary 
haunts  of  pleasure  and  vice  be  forsaken  for  the  places 
of  devotion,  and  you  have  the  theory,  so  far  as  I 
know,  of  a  revival  of  religion."  And  Dr.  Finney, 
confining  his  definition  more  strictly  to^  the  meaning 
of  the  word,  defines  revivals  as  a  "  work  of  grace, 
which  includes  conviction  of  sin,  repentance,  new 
obedience  and  faith  in  the  church,  breaking  the  power 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

of  the  world  ana  of  sin  over  Christians,  a  condition 
from  which  reformation  and  salvation  of  sinners  will 
follow,  going  through  the  same  stages  of  conviction, 
repentance  and  reformation." 

For  the  purposes  of  this  discussion  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  say  a  true  revival  of  religion  is  a  movement 
among  the  people  produced  by  the  power  of  the  truth 
and  the  agency  of  God's  Spirit,  resulting  in  the  quick- 
ening of  God's  children  and  the  conversion  and 
reformation  of  sinners.  This  is  a  broad  work.  It 
has  causes — both  various  and  uniform.  That  is  to  say, 
there  are  certain  elements  necessary  to  every  true 
revival;  there  are  certain  causes  always  present. 
These  maybe  called  its  necessary  or  essential  elements. 
There  are  also  certain  elements  that  give  particularity 
to  every  revival.  They  constitute  its  individuality. 
These  differ  from  time  to  time,  and  they  are  the  vary- 
ing factors  which  are  essential  in  that  in  some  form 
they  will  always  be  present,  but  which  are  never 
exactly  the  same  in  any  two  revivals  of  religion. 
The  former  may  be  likened  to  the  primary  elements 
of  matter,  always  present  and  operative,  the  latter 
like  form  and  color,  indefinite  in  their  variety  and 
determined  by  very  many  conditions. 

Let  us  ask,  first,  What  are  the  essential  or  perma- 
nent elements  of  a  revival,  those  without  which  it 
never  can  exist,  those,  therefore,  which  differentiate 
a  true  work  of  grace  from  every  false  or  merely  man- 
made  work? 

1.  God's  sovereign  and  Holy  spirit.  It  is  not  dog- 
matism to  say  there  never  has  been,  there  never  can 
be,  a  true  work  of  grace  without  the  vitalizing  power 


18  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  cannot  be  any  personal 
religion  without  that  Spirit.  No  soul  ever  burst 
the  bonds  of  its  own  grave.  The  Spirit's  work  is  it 
to  give  efficacy  [to  the  truth.  It  has  no  inherent 
saving  power.  It  becomes  saving  only  when  the 
Spirit  quickens  it.  Here  is  a  seed  in  the  earth.  It 
is  the  germ  of  a  beautiful  flower.  Folded  in  its  hard, 
dry  cell  is  a  bloom  that  defies  the  imitation  of  best 
art, — a  perfume  that  will  burden  the  air  around  it. 
But  that  on  one  condition,  that  the  sun  stoop  from 
his  throne  with  a  finger  of  light  and  spring  open  its  life 
and  beauty.  Even  so  only  the  Holy  Spirit  can  trans- 
form gospel  truth  into  the  efflorescence  of  beautiful 
life  and  character.  So  say  the  words  of  Jesus  to 
Nicodemus:  "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and 
of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God." 
"  The  Spirit,"  Christ  says,  "  shall  convince  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment." 

Not  only  does  the  Holy  Spirit  first  renew  the  soul; 
He  also  is  the  source  of  its  holiness.  If  we  are  sanc- 
tified, Peter  says,  it  is  "through  the  Spirit,  unto  obe- 
dience." So  Christ  says:  "  Howbeit,  when  He,  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  He  will  guide  you  unto 
all  truth;  for  He  shall  not  speak  of  Himself,  but 
whatsoever  He  shall  hear  (i.  e.,  from  the  Father  and 
Son)  that  shall  He  speak."  Now,  the  twofold  work 
of  revival  is  to  quicken  and  sanctify.  But  this  is 
the  specific  and  special  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
And  if  His  agency  is  essential  to  the  vivifying  of  a 
single  soul,  and  to  every  increase  that  soul  shall  make 
in  obedience  and  holiness,  how  even  more  is  it  essen- 
tial that  if  a  whole  community  is  to  be  aroused,  a 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

great  movement  to  be  inaugurated,  in  which  truth 
shall  spring  like  a  sun  into  the  heavens  to  awaken 
and  illuminate  and  guide,  God's  eternal  Spirit  must 
conduct  the  work  from  its  inception  to  its  close. 

Not  only  is  the  Holy  Spirit  the  author  of  every 
genuine  revival,  but  in  this  authorship  He  is  sover- 
eign. He  calls  whom  and  as  He  will.  He  works 
when  and  as  He  will.  He  works  by  means  we  would 
despise,  and  He  often  passes  by  the  means  we  had 
hopefully  laid  to  his  hand.  As  the  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth,  so  in  a  free  and  sovereign  might 
God's  Spirit  breathes  upon  His  church.  If  we  shall 
learn  this  lesson  and  accept  this  freedom  of  the 
Spirit  as  one  of  the  very  laws  of  revival,  it  will  save 
us  much  vain  philosophy  and  hopeless  conjecture. 
It  will  give  modesty  to  our  criticisms  and  freedom 
to  our  plans,  it  will  save  us  from  hasty  condemnation 
of  methods  that  are  novel,  it  will  make  us  pliable  in 
the  hands  of  the  Spirit  to  follow  the  indications  of 
Providence,  and  to  use  with  skill  and  effect  every 
tool  He  may  lay  to  our  hands. 

This  fact  of  divine  operation  as  the  first  essential 
factor  in  every  revival  of  religion,  is  not  only 
announced  by  scripture,  but  is  confirmed  by  experi- 
ence. It  likewise  has  its  illustrations  in  every  depart- 
ment of  work.  The  visible  human  hand  must  clasp 
the  invisible  hand  from  above.  The  vessel,  fresh 
from  the  artisan's  hands,  slides  from  the  dry  dock 
into  the  water.  Fair  and  graceful  as  a  lily,  she  rests 
on  the  ocean's  breast.  Glittering  arms  of  graceful 
waves  close  around  her  as  if  to  bear  her  on  the  pros- 
perous voyage.     Yet  she  moves  not.     The  sailors  in 


20  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

holiday  attire  man  the  yards  and  rigging.  The  sails  are 
spread — the  streamers  fastened — the  anchor  weighed. 
She  stirs  not.  Free  sovereign  breath  of  heaven,  the 
launched  vessel  waits  thy  coming.  From  some  far-away 
blue  mountain  roll,  from  some  wide  level  plain,  from 
some  sultry  sea  thou  must  come,  and  at  thy  viewless 
touch  the  art  and  thought  and  purpose  and  plan  of 
man  spring  into  a  living  thing  of  beauty  and 
utility.  So  ever  the  work  of  man  waits  the  touch 
of  God.  The  breath  from  heaven  must  come.  It 
may  be  the  north  wind,  sharp  with  biting  strength ; 
it  may  be  the  south  wind,  blown  over  gardens 
and  faint  with  spices;  but  the  plans  of  man  rock 
idly  on  stagnant  waters  until  it  comes.  God  can 
energize  the  feeblest  human  agency.  Without  His 
Spirit  the  very  best  machinery  of  human  thought 
and  skill  advertises  only  more  effectively  human 
helplessness.  First  then,  of  all  agencies,  behind, 
above,  around  every  device  of  man's  head,  every 
holy  endeavor  of  man's  renewed  heart  is  the  free, 
boundless,  almighty  breath  of  God.  In  EzekiePs 
vision  the  wheels  with  wheels  within  them  were 
moved  by  the  living  creatures  of  flaming  and  glori- 
ous appearance,  "and  when  the  living  creatures  went, 
the  wheels  went  by  them ;  and  when  the  creatures 
were  lifted  up  the  wheels  were  lifted  up  by  them. 
W  hither  soever  the  spirit  was  to  go  they  went,  thither 
was  their  spirit  to  go,  and  the  wheels  were  lifted  up 
over  against  them,  for  the  spirit  of  the  living  crea- 
ture was  in  the  wheels." 

The  wheels  represent  the  Church  on  earth,  the  liv- 
ing creatures  are  the  Spirit  of  God,   their  wings  are 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

his  power,  and  their  eyes  are  his  wisdom.  The 
Church  was  organized  amid  a  brilliant  display  of  the 
power  of  a  mighty  God.  Tongues  of  flame  lit  the 
brows  of  the  apostles,  and  words  of  flame,  like  the 
lightning  flashes  of  Ezekiel's  spirit,  lit  up  that  first 
magnificent  century  of  church  history.  Since  then, 
however  revivals  have  differed  from  each  other,  they 
have  had  this  unvarying  mark  and  sign,  the  tongues 
of  flame  have  brought  heavenly  illuminations  and 
the  victories  of  the  truth  have  been  secured  by  the 
direct  power  of  the  Spirit.  In  the  words  of  an  Eng- 
lish writer,  "The  reformation  of  the  monasticism,  and 
the  great  religious  movement  associated  with  it, 
extending  from  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  far 
into  the  thirteenth;  the  Waldensian  revival,  which 
covered  apart  of  the  same  period;  the  very  remarkable 
outburst  of  religious  life  in  the  Low  Countries  in  the 
fifteenth  century;  the  Protestant  reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century;  English  Puritanism;  English 
Methodism, — were  singularly  unlike  each  other;  but 
they  were  all  the  results  of  fresh  communications  to 
the  Church  of  the  life  and  light  and  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

II.  The  second  permanent  factor  in  a  revival  is  the 
truth  of  God.  There  is  no  inherent  and  necessarily 
saving  efficacy  in  the  truth.  The  gospel  may  be 
heard  only  to  be  rejected.  And  yet  the  truth  is  God's 
agency  for  the  liberation  of  men.  "Ye  shall  know 
the  truth  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  God 
has  ordained  that  men  shall  be  saved  by  the  procla- 
mation of  the  gospel.  To  the  mere  ritualist  it  may 
be  a  stumbling  block, — as  it  was  to  the  Jews, — to 


W  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

culture  it  may  seem  to  be  foolishness;  so  it  appeared 
to  the  Greeks;  but  it  is  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God 
unto  salvation.  That  is  to  say,  salvation  is  the  design 
of  it.  If  man  is  not  saved  by  it,  it  is  because  he 
perverts  it.  Now  the  place  which  truth  holds  in  revi- 
vals is  easily  determined.  It  is  the  seed  whose  life  is 
to  bring  the  harvest.  The  harvest  indeed  depends  on 
certain  relations  between  sunlight  and  seed  grain; 
neither  is  fruitful  without  the  other.  Preach,  there- 
fore, without  the  Spirit,  and  it  is  vain.  And  for  life, 
movement,  guidance  of  the  people,  the  Spirit  with- 
out the  truth  is  vain.  The  Spirit  may  overwhelm  a 
community  with  a  sense  of  sin  and  peril.  He  may 
awaken  dull  sensibilities  and  arouse  lethargic  CCn- 
sciences,  but  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  must  point  the 
way  of  peace.  Redemption,  therefore,  as  a  great  fact, 
to  which  the  Bible  gathers  all  its  strength,  redemp- 
tion in  the  life,  suffering,  death  and  glory  of  Jesus, 
is  the  seed  truth  of  revival  harvest.  Around  it  many 
others  cluster.  As  in  times  of  JSehemiah,  in  the  un- 
folding it  brings  confession  and  praise,  tears  and  jo\ . 
Upon  these  all,  the  Holy  Spirit  pours  His  light. 
They  rise  into  strength  and  beauty ;  they  grow  into 
life  and  character.  As  a  garden  unfolds  in  the  har- 
mony of  colors,  so  does  truth,  colored,  vivified,  blended, 
expand  under  the  Spirit's  power  into  the  beautiful 
unity  of  Christian  life. 

The  truth  is  many-sided.  The  side  that  is  most 
prominently  seen  at  any  particular  period,  determines 
somewhat  the  character  of  the  revival  that  may 
result.  The  moon  always  turns  the  same  illuminated 
disc  to  us,  but  truth  revolves.     The  Spirit  shows  us 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

all  the  sides.  A  variable  shade  is  thus  given  to  the 
different  ages.  The  same  vegetation  in  different  lati- 
tudes has  different  colors,  the  same  truth  in  different 
ages  has  different  appearances.  If  we  were  to  char- 
acterize the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  religious 
movement  of  the  first  century  we  should  call  it  inten- 
sity. The  apostle's  simple  creed:  "Believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved"  glowed 
in  white  heat  in  every  sermon,  and  the  feet  that 
obeyed  the  Savior's  first  commission  were  swift  to 
run  the  race  whose  goal  was  martyrdom. 

The  Reformation  Revival,  broader  and  more  multi- 
form, was  an  awakening,  not  only  of  personal  faith, 
but  of  doctrine,  learning  and  liberty. 

The  revivals  of  this  century  indicate  a  percepti- 
ble tendency  towards  apostolic  simplicity  and  mis- 
sionary zeal.  Through  all  these  changes  one  fact 
stands  prominently  to  view  and  must  never  be  forgot- 
ten. The  truth  as  it  in  Jesus  is  an  essential  element 
in  every  work  of  grace.  Popular  excitement  that  is 
not  pointed  to  rest  in  the  doctrines  of  the  cross  is 
only  hurtful.  The  truth,  only,  rightly  arouses;  the 
truth,  only,  successfully  calms. 

If,  therefore,  it  be  inquired  what  element  should  be 
most  prominent  in  revival  work,  we  answer,  Christ 
and  His  cross.  Rowland  Hill,  wrote  in  his  Bible 
three  words  as  condensing  all  its  meaning,  "Ruin, 
Regeneration,  Redemption."  Scatter  these  seed- 
truths  through  any  community,  plow  them  in  with 
sharpest  assertion,  water  them  with  tears,  tend  with 
unfailing  watchfulness,  and  then  fear  no  empty  gleam 
of  harvest  sheaves  that  have  no  bread  in  them. 


24  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

The  mind  unfed  by  truth  is  easily  made  the  victim 
of  delusions,  the   prey   of   its  fervid   imaginations. 
Passion  maybe  mistaken  for  religion;  excitement  for 
consecration.     But   he  builds  securely,  whether   for 
personal  character  or  for  popular  persuasion,  influ- 
ence and  spiritual  results,  who  builds  on  God's  Word. 
A  series  of  Bible  revivals  will  train  up  a  generation 
of  stalwart  Christians,  not  moved   about    by    every 
wind  of  doctrine,  not  seduced  from  their  allegiance 
by  every  fascination  of  the  world.     It  is  this  that 
constitutes  at   once,    the   beauty   and   safety   of  the 
present  revivals.     It  is  the  truth  that  makes  us  free. 
III.  There  is  another  element  that  may  be  consid- 
ered essential  to  revival  work,  an  element  that  has  never 
been  wanting,  viz.,  a  church  on  earth.     Sometimes  a 
dead  church  needing  first  to  be  raised  before  it  could 
become  helpful  to  others,  but  still  the  conception  of 
a  revival  as  the  impress  of  the  truth  upon  a  commu- 
nity supposes   an  agency  that  shall  bring  that  truth 
to  the  mind  and  heart   along  the  ordinary  path  of 
instruction  and  appeal.     Human  agency  then  is  sup- 
posed in  every  revival  of  religion.     Let  us  be  humbly 
mindful  of  the  fact  that  such  agency  has  often  begun 
at  the  minimum  of  church  coldness  and  formality. 
Let  us  remember  God  has  often   chosen  things  con- 
spicuously weak  to  be  the  channel  of  his  strength. 
Yet  it  remains  true,  the  human  side  is  as  much  an 
unvarying  factor  (though  of  course  in  relatively  insig- 
nificant measure)   as   the   divine.     Christ's    method 
was   the   projection   of  himself  with    all    of    divine 
pity  and  human  tenderness   and  sympathy  into  the 
Borrows  of  men,   recognizing   that   not  the   least   of 


INTRODUCTION.  25 

these  sorrows  are  those  which  spring  in  a  sincere 
heart  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  error.  He  could 
have  sent  a  liberating  doctrine  by  the  month  of  an 
angel,  or  let  it  kindle  again  in  the  words  of  an  Isaiah 
or  a  David,  but  not  so  has  he  chosen.  "It  has 
pleased  God  to  save  men  by  the  foolishness  of  preach- 
ing." Men  are  imprisoned,  and  the  tap  of  an  idea  at 
the  iron  prison  door  cannot  set  them  free.  A  man 
must  come  into  that  jail,  a  man,  who  has  the  keys  to 
its  winding  corridors;  he  must  surrender  his  liberty 
for  the  time,  stand  among  the  prisoners,  unbinding 
chains  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  point  the 
almost  despairing  faces  to  the  breadth  of  sunlight,  that 
glints  feebly  through  the  grated  windows. 

Society  is  so  constructed  that  influence  is  at  a  max- 
imum, when  its  lines  are  level.  So  it  is  not  angels 
for  men,  but  men  for  men  in  personal  impact  of 
moral  power  by  which  the  world  is  moved.  Thus, 
however  feeble  is  human  agency  in  itself,  God  takes 
it  into  a  glorious  partnership.  They  who  underrate 
or  ignore  it  will  fail  to  reach  the  philosophy  of  God's 
method  of  grace  with  the  children  of  men.  A  clod 
of  earth  is  dark,  most  unlovely,  in  any  view  of  its  pow- 
ers separate  from  the  sun  in  the  heavens  and  the  vital 
germ  hid  within  it.  Most  unimportant  in  itself,  yet 
it  is  the  solid  base  on  which  the  tree  stands.  Through 
its  dark  corridors  the  sun  shoots  its  quickening  beams, 
through  its  unlit  passageways  the  roots  must  twine. 
There  is  no  growth  without  it.  The  reason  is  plain. 
The  soil  and  the  seed  and  the  radiant  sun  are  one  in 
the  grand  endeavor  for  growth  and  life.  Inert  clod, 
It  may  be  powdered  under  the  heel,  but  it  has  lofty  alii- 


26  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

ances,  it  has  mighty  friends.  The  sun  sends  it  shin- 
ing greeting,  and  girds  it  with  its  own  puissance. 
Weak  enough  is  humanity — a  humanity  apart 
from  its  God,  aside  from  truth.  It  is  dust  to  be 
blown  by  the  winds,  to  be  whirled  in  an  endless 
unrest,  in  a  dry  and  perpetual  death,  but  that' human- 
ity which  comes  into  harmony  with  God,  for  which 
heaven  has  tears,  and  truth  has  light,  and  God's  Spirit 
has  life,  is  the  broad  base  of  all  those  spiritual 
growths  that  seem  more  of  heaven  than  earth. 
We  say  again,  therefore,  a  church  on  earth,  a  company 
of  people  allied  to  God,  willing  subjects  of  His  grace, 
willing  missionaries  of  His  truth,  locking  hands  with 
the  Spirit,  is  an  essential  element  in  that  movement, 
which  is  at  once  deeply  divine  and  thoroughly  human; 
deeply  divine,  because  God  is  all  its  real  efficiency; 
thoroughly  human  because  man  is  the  sphere  of  its 
activity,  .and  the  divinely  ordained  channel  of  its 
progress. 

Let  us  turn  our  thought  now  to  what  may  be 
termed  the  varying  elements  of  revival.  They  are 
not  essential,  but  they  are  such  as,  combining  with 
what  is  essential,  give  form  and  color  to  revivals; 
such,  in  a  word,  as  determine  their  individuality. 
Three  elements  determine  a  tree  as  to  the  facts  of 
life,  growth  and  nature.  There  must  be  a  germ,  a 
soil,  and  warmth.  Three  factors  constitute  the  fact 
of  a  revival  as  to  life,  growth,  and  nature,  God's 
Word,  God's  Spirit,  and  God's  Church.  But  the  wind 
and  storm  and  latitude  and  other  influences  measure 
the  strength,  shape  and  color  of  the  tree.  So  many 
influences   of  the   age,  society,  and   intellectual  ten- 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

dencies  pressing  on  a  revival  from  the  outside,  give 
direction,  shape  and  tone  to  that  which,  as  a  fact,  is 
assured  by  the  triple  movement  from  the  center. 

1.  Prominent  among  these  is  the  social  or  national 
condition,  which  like  an  atmosphere  flows  around 
every  work  and  modifies  its  form.  It  is  difficult  for 
a  man  to  rise  out  of  the  level  of  his  time.  And  relig- 
ious movements  are  restricted  in  like  manner.  Some 
conditions  of  society  are  favorable  to  reflection;  oth- 
ers adverse.  So  some  times  in  a  nation  give  better 
scope  to  the  victories  of  truth  than  others. 

A  revival  of  religion  is  in  a  large  measure  a  tide  of 
religions  thought  and  feeling.  The  thoughts  and 
feelings  of  a  nation  or  community  cannot  be  pro- 
foundly set  in  two  opposite  directions  at  the  same 
time.  Hence  a  time  of  war  is  seldom  a  season  of 
wide-spread  religious  interest.  The  reason  is  appar- 
ent. The  whirl  of  present  interest  and  peril  diverts 
all  feeling  to  that  one  central  channel.  It  is  some- 
times a  matter  of  wonder  that  times  of  national 
calamity  should  so  often  be  times  of  religious  indif- 
ference. There  need  be  no  wonder.  The  waters  that 
run  to  white  lines  of  most  intense  activity  cannot  be 
separated  into  several  channels.  They  must  be  com- 
pressed into  one. 

On  the  other  hand,  times  of  failure  and  of  depres- 
sion are  favorable  for  the  impression  of  the  truth. 
After  the  strain  of  a  worldward  tendency  has 
relaxed,  when  men  let  go  their  worldward  endeavors 
with  the  gathering  conviction  of  the  vanity  of  things 
under  the  sun,  then,  in  the  calm  and  hunger  that  fol- 
low, truth  has  had  some  of  her  most  signal  victories. 


28  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

The  great  revival  of  1857-58  followed  hard  on  the 
commercial  disasters.  The  present  financial  depres- 
sion and  business  stagnation  seem  to  have  given  an 
impetus  to  religious  interest  all  over  the  country. 
Thus  the  Holy  Ghost  in  His  free  sovereignty  does 
not  despise  the  help  of  circumstance.  He  can  work 
over  and  above  it.  He  has  often  done  so.  But 
remembering  how  often  He  has  taken  advantage  of 
a  lull  in  human  passions,  of  a  subsidence  of  the  fever 
for  possessions,  to  make  heard  His  call  to  faith  and 
the  service  of  God,  it  is  interesting  to  think  He 
thus  takes  into  his  service  the  ordinary  current  of 
history,  using  the  changes  of  social  or  national  life 
to  give  sj:>eed  to  the  conquests  of  truth. 

In  the  development  of  our  history  we  shall  have  fre- 
quent occasion  to  give  illustrations  of  these  remarks, 
showing  the  influence  of  the  national  history  upon 
the  spiritual  condition  of  the  people.  Thus  the  gen- 
eral indifference  and  apathy  of  the  people  of  New  Eng- 
land on  all  religious  subjects  for  quite  a  long  period 
before  the  time  of  Edwards  and  the  labors  of  White  - 
field  seemed  to  be  the  groundwork  out  of  which  arose 
the  great  revivals  which  followed.  Special  providen- 
tial occurrences  were  used  by  God  for  the  purpose  of 
arousing  attention  and  quickening  the  popular  con- 
science. Dr.  Edwards  makes  particular  mention  of 
one  of  these  providences  that  had  a  most  remarkable 
effect  in  giving  power  to  the  truth.  He  says:  "In 
the  month  of  April,  1734,  there  happened  a  very  sud 
den  and  awful  death  of  a  man  in  the  bloom  of  youth. 
The  sermon  preached  at  his  funeral  affected  many. 
This  was  lb  Jo  wed  by  the  death  of  a  young  married 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

woman.  In  the  beginning  of  her  illness,  she  was 
greatly  distressed  about  the  salvation  of  her  soul,  but 
seemed  to  obtain  satisfactory  evidence  of  God's  sav- 
ing mercy,  and  in  a  most  earnest  and  moving  manner 
counseled  and  warned  others.  This  seemed  much  to 
affect  many  young  persons,  and  increased  the  relig- 
ious concern  on  their  minds.  It  wras  in  the  latter 
part  of  December,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  began  to 
act  in.  and  wonderfully  to  work  among  us.  Soon  the 
noise  among  the  dry  bones  waxed*  louder  and  louder. 
The  work  of  conversion  was  then  carried  on  in  the 
most  astonishing  manner.  Souls  did,  as  it  wTere, 
come  by  flocks  to  Jesus  Christ.  It  made  such  a  glo- 
rious alteration  in  the  town,  that,  in  the  following 
spring  and  summer  (1735),  the  town  seemed  to  be 
full  of  the  presence  of  God.  I  hops  that  more  than 
three  hundred  have  been  brought  home  to  Christ  in 
this  town  (a  population  of  eleven  hundred)  in  the 
space  of  half  a  year." 

2.  Intellectual  conditions  also  enter  into  the  success 
of  revivals.  Of  this  fact  there  are  two  signal  historic 
illustrations.  The  day  of  Pentecost  came  at  a  re- 
markable time  in  the  intellectual  history  of  the  world. 
The  wonderful  religious  progress  that  followed  Pen- 
tecost, and  which  made  the  first  hundred  years  of 
Christian  history  almost  a  continuous  revival,  would 
scarce  have  been  possible  at  any  other  time.  A  sin- 
gle glance  at  the  confluence  of  Ec.stern  and  West- 
ern history  at  that  time  would  reveal  how  Providence 
had  prepared  the  way  for  the  revival  fires  that  broke 
forth  through  the  darkness  all  around  the  Mediterra- 
nean. 


30  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

The  intellectual  history  in  the  dark  lands  east  of 
Palestine  had  been  one  prolonged  failure.  Confucius 
set  his  face  toward  his  ancestors  and  died.  Brahmins 
drank  the  sacred  soxiia  and  in  its  intoxication  became 
indifferent  to  time  and  eternity.  Buddhists  wandered 
a  wThile  in  atheism,  and,  saying:  "  There  is  no  God," 
plunged  into  Nirvana,  and  the  Magians  from  the 
courts  of  Zoroaster,  perceiving  the  hopeless  struggle 
between  good  and  evil,  and  longing  for  a  deliverer, 
followed  the  Hebrew  traditions  that  lingered  on  the 
Euphrates,  and  by  that  Star  which  emblems  every  his- 
toric light,  came  to  the  manger  of  Jesus,  bringing 
gold,  frankincense  and  myrrh.  To  the  west  of  Pales- 
tine a  similar  course  of  failure  and  of  hunger  may  be 
traced.  The  Star  passes  from  Persia  and  rises  over 
Greece.  Plato  dreamed  of  a  great  good,  a  perfect  hu- 
man state,  an  infinite  chasm  between  them,  and  there 
the  dream  ended.  Greek  religion  climbed  to  the 
height  of  beauty  and  art,  and  then  broke  down  under 
its  own  loveliness.  The  end  of  their  cultured  and 
earnest  endeavor  was  a  wail  of  utter  helplessness 
and  surrender,  which,  as  the  tradition  runs,  sounded 
through  all  their  temples,  saying:  "The  great  Pan  is 
dead  "  and  hushed  the  oracles  forever.  The  gorgeous 
mythology  had  fallen  to  pieces  on  the  ^Egean,  as  be- 
fore it  had  failed  on  the  Euphrates.  The  world  had 
nothing  else.  It  was  an  hour  of  despair.  Philosophy 
was  creeping  drearily  on  toward  atheism.  Then  came 
Christ,  then  came  Pentecost.  And  from  all  nations 
the  heavy  hearted  people  looked  toward  Jerusalem 
and  listened  to  its  call  to  faith  and  peace  and  rest. 
The  Pentecostal  wave  was  borne  eastward  along  Ara- 


INTRODUCTION.  31 

bian  sands,  and  westward  around  the  base  of  classic 
mountains,  on  the  tide  of  such  intellectual  confession 
and  need  as  had  never  been  lifted  before. 

Another  illustration  is  at  the  Reformation  Era.  The 
revival  of  learning  stimulated  and  shaped  that  great 
revival  of  religion.  The  progress  of  science  in  many 
directions  led  men  slowly  out  of  the  cloisters  to  look 
upon  the  world  and  themselves.  It  was  the  develop- 
ment of  the  man  against  the  church,  personal  re- 
sponsibility against  authority.  The  end  where- 
unto  alike  the  schoolmen  and  defenders  of  science 
worked,  often  blindly  and  unconsciously,  was  this:  the 
right  of  private  judgment  in  all  matters,  great  or 
small,  sacred  or  secular.  The  highway  thus  thrown 
up  among  falling  altars  and  decaying  art  was  not 
made  by  the  reformers,  but  rather  for  them.  It  was 
God's  developing  idea  that  prepared  this  way,  and  as 
the  soul  is  often  darkly  led  from  its  outer  supports  to 
the  vitality  of  the  inner  life,  so  by  steps  no  logic  can 
measure  and  no  chronology  date,  the  mind  of  Europe 
felt  its  way  past  the  outward  to  the  inward,  away  from 
the  picture  gallery  of  a  whole  continent  to  the  lecture 
room  of  the  Truth.  And  even  as  the  soul  gains  its 
freedom  at  a  great  price,  so  the  transition  from  Art  to 
Thought  required  the  ransom  price  of  tears  and 
flames  and  blood.  Thus  the  quickening  of  a  human 
intellect  and  the  quickening  of  religious  life  and 
thought  came  together.  Their  confluence  gave  a 
power  to  each  that  separately  they  could  not  have  at- 
tained. Eationalists  claim  that  the  liberation  of  the 
mind  from  the  shackles  of  superstition  was  wholly 
due  to  intellectual  causes.     The  influence  was  indeed 


32  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

mutual,  but  the  illumination  which  shone  direct 
from  heaven  upon  the  minds  of  Martin  Luther  and 
his  compeers  had  much  to  do,  not  only  with  the  awak- 
ening of  religious,  but  also  civil  and  intellectual  lib- 
er t v.  On  the  other  hand,  the  awakened  mind  gave 
wings  to  the  new-found  gospel.  At  no  other  time 
could  the  unchaining  of  the  Bible  have  been  of  so 
much  use  to  Europe  and  to  the  world.  The  printing 
press  loaded  with  Bibles  that  vessel  which  the  mari- 
ner's compass  had  made  bold  to  push  out  from  shore. 
And  so  that  revival,  which  spread  from  the  Adriatic 
to  the  North  Sea,  from  Geneva  to  Edinburgh,  shook  a 
continent,  with  all  its  thrones  and  its  universities,  as 
with  the  very  powTer  of  God.  Thus  again  the  Holy 
Spirit  brought  human  instrumentality  to  Ais  service; 
used  the  circumstance  of  aroused  intellectual  condi- 
tion to  deepen  and  spread  the  grandest  work  of  grace 
known  to  the  history  of  men. 

We  believe  the  sharpening  lines  of  the  present  in- 
tellectual battle  will  eventuate  in  a  similar  service  to 
the  spirit  of  revivals.  The  line  of  attack  now  is 
around  the  foundation  stone.  Shall  we  have  ai^  re- 
ligion, any  God,  any  immortality?  We  believe  the 
result  of  this  inquiry  for  deepest  truths  will  disclose 
a  bed-rock,  on  which  will  be  built  the  most  sucessful 
of  all  the  labors  of  the  church.  Out  of  these  discus- 
sions will  come  a  strength  of  mental  conviction,  which 
is  the  condition  of  the  best  religious  zeal.  Lord  Ba- 
con says:  "  It  is  true  that  a  little  philosophy  inclineth 
men's  minds  to  atheism,  but  depth  in  philosophy 
bringeth  men's  minds  about  to  religion."  From  that 
depth  in  philosophy  there  will  arise  such  height  of 


INTRODUCTION.  33 

united  Christian  endeavor  to  conquer  the  world  for 
Christ  as  has  never  marked  a  period  of  church  history 
before.  Surely  it  is  not  without  significance  that  this 
depth  of  conviction  should  be  approached  in  these 
days  at  once  by  the  heart  methods  of  evangelistic  la- 
bors and  by  masterly  philosophical  discussions,  at  once 
through  the  sermons  of  Moody  and  the  lectures  of 
Cook.  Indeed,  as  a  condition  of  revival  zeal,  it  mat- 
ters little  by  what  path  this  conviction  of  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus  may  come — path  of  logic,  or  path  of 
service — so  only  the  truth  take  shape  in  the  mind 
and  settle  into  the  heart.  It  is  the  grandeur  of  the 
Bible  that  its  lines  of  evidence  are  level  to  the  lowest. 
It  not  only  touches  the  springs  of  feeling  with  an  im- 
partial hand  in  the  breast  of  sage  or  child,  but  the 
evidence  that  leads  to  mental  conviction  is  drawn  with 
such  a  masterly  hand  that  it  equally  impresses  every 
age,  rank  and  condition.  We  believe  this  conviction 
is  now  being  impressed  upon  the  attention  of  the 
world,  through  scholarship  and  missions  and  revivals, 
as  never  before.  We  look  forward,  therefore,  to  an 
unwonted  depth  and  continuous  and  widening  power 
of  the  revival  work  of  the  future. 

Without  stopping  to  specify  all  the  human  and  so- 
cial conditions  which  shape  and  affect  revivals  of  re- 
ligion, it  is  perfectly  manifest,  if  they  have  a  human 
side,  as  well  as  a  divine,  then  the  changes  of  that  hu- 
man will  powerfully  characterize  the  revival.  That  is 
what  the  Germans  call  a  Zeitgeist,  a  spirit  of  the  age 
that  sets  its  impress  on  every  work  done  within  that 
age.  From  that  spirit  and  its  molding  power  even 
an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  not  exempt. 


34  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

The  water  taken  up  from  the  great  ocean  and  in  clouds 
carried  over  the  land  is  originally  all  of  the  same 
density  and  form.  A  smooth  and  even  vapor,  it  rises 
from  the  sea  and  drifts  toward  the  mountain  ranges. 
But  when  it  comes  within  reach  of  the  atmosphere  of 
the  continent,  then  the  conditions  of  that  atmosphere 
determine  its  form.  Whether,  unbound  from  the 
clouds  by  peals  of  thunder,  it  shall  fall  in  heavy  drops 
upon  the  land  below;  whether  it  shall  descend  in 
hardly  visible  mist  clouds,  or  in  icy  sleet  or  feathery 
flakes  of  snow,  depends  on  conditions  of  that  element 
into  which  it  has  come.  So  is  the  work  of  God's 
truth  among  the  children  of  men.  Even  the  Spirit's 
appeals  get  tone  from  the  Christian  atmosphere  in 
which  they  vibrate.  The  theology,  the  religious  or 
irreligious  tendencies,  the  political  and  social  and 
moral  air  color  and  so  individualize  revivals  of  re- 
ligion. It  were  idle,  therefore,  to  expect  that  one 
revival  would  have  the  same  prominent  elements  as 
some  other. 

We  cannot  learn  them  all  by  studying  one.  We 
cannot,  from  one  age,  take  a  standard  of  measure- 
ment which  can  be  applied  to  all  others.  It  were 
folly  to  discredit  the  present  work  of  grace  because  it 
has  features  not  marked  before;  because  it  has  not 
the  tongues  of  Pentecostal  flame,  or  the  intense  hero- 
ism of  Scottish  Covenanter  days,  or  the  severe  legal 
aspects  of  the  first  revivals  in  our  own  country.  Just 
as  unwise  would  it  be  unduly  to  magnify  it  because 
it  has  more  of  the  gospel  of  simple  trust,  and  exalt 
it  at  the  exepnse  of  other  revivals  in  which  the  gos- 
pel of  St.  John  had  a  less  conspicuous  place. 


INTRODUCTION.  35 

Again,  we  Bay  God's  Spirit  is  a  free  Spirit,  and  be- 
cause this  is  so,  He  makes  every  age,  every  condition 
of  society,  every  state  of  human  thought,  subservient 
to  His  grand  purpose  of  pressing  forward  the  king- 
dom of  Christ. 

From  this  glance  at  the  necessary  and  accessory 
elements  of  revivals,  we  discover  there  is  one  great 
law  under  which  these  elements  fall.  A  revival  of 
religion  is  not  a  lawless  thins:.  When  a  farmer  has 
learned  the  laws  of  nature  he  plans  for  harvest  under 
those  laws;  he  goes  to  his  fields  with  a  firm  step,  be- 
cause he  believes  God  is  with  him.  From  the  first 
furrow  turned  in  the  spring  to  the  last  sheaf  gathered 
in  the  autumn,  he  works  under  the  buoyant  con- 
sciousness that  God  is  with  him  because  he  is  with 
God,  because  he  observes  those  laws  of  seedtime  and 
harvest  which  he  is  assured  shall  never  fail.  In  our 
blessed  work  of  winning  souls  to  Christ  we  may  work 
under  the  inspiring  thought  that  the  laws  of  grace 
are  as  sure  as  those  of  nature;  that  the  promise  that 
brings  the  opening  warmth  of  spring,  the  radiant  heat 
of  summer  and  the  mellow  light  of  autumn  is  the 
same  word  that  secures  the  bloom,  growth  and  ripen- 
ing of  religious  life.  Let  us,  therefore,  learn  to  take 
revivals  out  of  the  exceptional  realm  into  that  of  reg- 
ular church  methods.  They  are  God's  means,  or- 
dained to  bear  his  church  along.  It  is  the  aim  of 
this  history  to  gather  from  the  various  fields  of  spe- 
cial religious  interest  in  this  country,  such  hints 
of  the  relation  between  the  necessary  divine  elements 
and  the  varying  human  efforts  as  may  contribute 
somewhat  toward  a  discovery  of  that  law  of  success 


36  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

in  saving  souls  obedience  to  which  would  give  the  ut- 
most joy,  and  the  largest  success  to  Christian  work. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  hope  that  at  some  time  not  far 
away  the  church  will  enter  upon  a  revival  which,  in 
its  breadth,  shall  encompass  the  world,  and  in  its  re- 
sult shall  bring  the  fulfilment  of  that  promise  when 
nations  shall  be  born  in  a  day.  God  speed  the  time 
when  Pentecostal  expectation  shall  fill  every  church, 
and  Pentecostal  flames  light  up  every  altar.  Then  shall 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  become  the  kingdoms  of 
our  Lord  and  his  Christ. 


CHAPTER  II. 

REVIVALS  UNDER  WHITEFIELD. 

The  first  general  revival  of  religion  in  this  country 
realized  most  perfectly  the  strict  meaning  of  the  word. 
It  was  a  quickening  again ;  it  was  the  Spirit  of  God  call- 
ing to  newness  of  life  those  who  once  had  lived.     The 
beginning  of  it  is  usually  put  at  1740.  In  truth,  it  ante- 
dates that  period  by  several  years.  A  glance  at  the  relig- 
ious condition  of  the  country  will  prepare  us  to  under- 
stand its  character  and  extent.     A  single  phrase  may 
outline  it:      Formalism  as  opposed  to  vital  Godliness. 
Puritan  severity  had  yielded  to  the  gradual  encroach- 
ment of  an  all-pervading  worldliness.      Between  the 
Church  and  the  world  the  line  had  grown  so  shadowy 
as  to  be  almost  invisible.     Conversion  was  not  neces- 
sary to  church-membership — a  work  of  grace  in  the 
heart  not  at  all  essential  to  an  approach  to  the  commu- 
nion table,  and  not  at  all  times  to  be  insisted  on  as 
a  qualification  even  for  preaching  the  gospel.     Writes 
Samuel  Blair,  the  venerable  President  of  Princeton 
College,  "  Religion  lay,  as  it  were,  dying  and  ready  to 
expire  its  last  breath  of  life  in  this  part  of  the  visible 
Church."     Edwards  says,  "  Many  seemed  to  be  awak- 
ened with  the  fear  that  God  was  about  to  withdraw 
from   the   land."     Joseph   Tracy,   in   his   admirable 


38  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

work  on  "  The  Great  Awakening,"  says,  "  Such  had 
been  the  downward  progress  in  New  England.  Re- 
vivals had  become  less  frequent  and  powerful. 
There  were  many  in  the  churches,  and  some  even  in 
the  ministry,  who  were  lingering  among  the  supposed 
preliminaries  to  conversion.  The  difference  between 
the  church  and  the  world  was  vanishing  away. 
Church  discipline  was  neglected,  and  a  growing 
laxness  of  morals  was  invading  the  churches.  And 
yet  never,  perhaps,  had  the  expectation  of  reaching 
heaven  at  last  been  more  general,  or  more  confident. 
Occasional  revivals  had  interrupted  this  downward  pro- 
gress, and  the  preaching  of  sound  doctrine  had  re- 
tarded it  in  many  places,  especially  at  Northampton, 
but  even  there  it  had  gone  on,  and  the  hold  of  truth 
on  the  conscience  of  men  was  sadly  diminished.  The 
young  were  abandoning  themselves  to  frivolity,  and 
to  amusements  of  dangerous  tendency,  and  party 
spirit  was  producing  its  natural  fruit  of  evil  among 
the  old." 

There  was  one  man  who  perceived  the  extent  of 
the  peril  to  which  the  church  was  exposed  by  this  gene- 
ral lapse  from  experimental  religion,  and  who  also  un- 
derstood that  only  the  truth  in  its  majesty  and  severity 
could  break  the  deadly  lethargy  which  had  seized 
upon  the  conscience.  Jonathan  Edwards  determined 
to  meet  the  danger  with  the  unsheathed  sword  of  the 
Spirit.  With  keenest  insight  he  saw  that  the  worst  of 
the  spiritual  trouble  of  the  land  was,  in  somewhat  differ- 
ent form,  what  was  the  malady  under  which  relig- 
ion lay  dying  just  before  the  Reformation.  It  was 
the  denial  of  the  necessity  of  regeneration  and  person- 


REVIVALS    UNDER    WHITEFIELD.  39 

al  faith  in  Christ  as  the  sinner's  only  hope.  Lnther 
had  unveiled  the  truth  of  justification  Ity  faith  alone, 
and  it  flashed  light  over  a  continent  of  darkness.  To 
him  it  was  the  article  of  a  standing  or  falling 
church.  To  Edwards  came  a  like  opportunity,  and 
God  honored  him  to  be  the  preacher  of  this  doctrine 
at  a  time  when  it  was  well-nigh  as  sorely  needed 
as  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  when  it  also 
required  the   highest   moral  courage    to  proclaim  it. 

In  1734  Edwards  preached  that  remarkable  series 
of  sermons  on  "  Justification  by  Faith,"  which  shook 
the  whole  community  with  the  truth  that  in  his  rela- 
tions with  God  the  sinner  can  rel}'  on  no  outer  sup- 
port of  morality,  or  church  fellowship,  but  only  on 
the  atoning  work  of  Christ.  The  effect  of  these  and 
following  sermons  was  to  strip  away  false  hopes,  to 
enrage  some,  to  humble  and  convict  others,  but  gen- 
erally to  awaken  the  public  mind  to  the  sharpest 
questioning  and  the  closest  sifting  of  religious 
grounds  and  hopes. 

The  Holy  Spirit  owned  the  truth.  In  December 
of  that  year,  Edwards  says:  "The  Spirit  of  God 
began  extraordinarily  to  set  in  and  wonderfully  to 
work  among  us."  Remarkable  conversions  followed 
one  after  the  other;  the  report  of  the  work  at  North- 
ampton spread  through  the  neighboring  towns  in 
which  many  were  awakened  and  brought  to  repent- 
ance. In  half  a  year  Edwards  hoped  that  more  than 
three  hundred  were  converted  in  Northampton.  His 
account  of  the  experience  of  the  converts  is  impor- 
tant to  our  purpose.  He  notes  among  those  who 
were   awakened,  first  a  conviction  of  the  justice   of 


40  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

God  in  their  condemnation,  a  sense  of  their  own  ex- 
ceeding sinfulness  and  the  vileness  of  all  their  per- 
formances. This  was  followed  by  unexpected  quiet- 
ness and  composure,  and  often  a  conclusion  within 
themselves  that  they  would  lie  at  God's  feet  and  await 
His  time.  This  was  followed,  sooner  or  later,  by 
"some  comfortable  and  sweet  view  of  a  merciful  God,  of 
a  sufficient  Redeemer,  of  some  great  and  joyful  things 
of  the  gospel."  "  There  is  wrought  in  them  a  repose  of 
soul  in  God  through  Christ,  a  secret  disposition  to 
love  him  and  to  hope  for  blessing  in  this  way.  And 
yet  they  have  no  imagination  that  they  are  now  con- 
verted. They  know  not  that  the  sweet  complacence 
they  feel  in  the  mercy  and  complete  salvation  of  God, 
as  it  includes  pardon  and  sanctification,  and  is  held 
forth  to  them  only  through  Christ,  is  a  true  receiving 
of  this  mercy,  or  a  plain  evidence  of  their  receiv- 
ing it." 

A  few  years  before  this  there  was  a  revival  of  con- 
siderable power  in  Freehold,  X.  J.,  under  the  minis- 
try of  the  Tennents.  In  1735  "Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent 
brought  some  overtures  into  synod  with  respect  to 
trials  of  candidates  both  for  the  ministry  and  for  the 
Lord's  Table."  He  was  moved  to  this  by  the  custom 
into  which  the  low  state  of  religion  had  led  the 
church,  of  not  only  receiving  people  to  the  Lord's 
Table  without  any  evidence  of  a  change  of  heart,  but 
even  ordaining  ministers  without  any  strict  examina- 
tion as  to  their  "  experience  of  a  work  of  sanctifying 
grace  in  their  hearts."  The  response  of  the  synod 
was,  however,  explicit  on  the  last  of  these  points,  and 
it  was  one  of  the  signs  of  the  general  religious  awak- 
ening for  which  God's  Spirit  was  preparing  the  way. 


REVIVALS    UNDER    WHITEFIELD.  41 

Prominent  among  those  early  revivals,  the  one 
among  the  Scotch  Irish  Presbyterians  of  New  Lon- 
donderry, Pa.,  deserves  special  mention,  less  for  the 
extent  of  it  than  for  the  insight  it  gives  us  into  the 
spiritual  tendencies  of  the  times.  Samuel  Blair  gives 
an  interesting  account  of  the  state  of  religion  at  that 
time.  He  speaks  of  the  presence  everywhere  of  the 
external  forms  of  religion,  but  also  a  lamentable  ig- 
norance of  the  main  essentials  of  true,  practical  re- 
ligion. "  The  necessity  of  being  first  in  Christ  by  a 
vital  union  and  in  a  justified  state  before  our  religious 
services  can  be  well-pleasing  and  acceptable  to  God, 
was  very  little  understood  or  thought  of.  But  the 
common  notion  seemed  to  be  that  if  people  were  aim- 
ing to  be  in  the  way  of  duty  as  well  as  they  could, 
as  they  imagined,  there  was  no  reason  to  be  much 
afraid." 

In  the  spring  of  1740  the  Spirit  was  poured  out  on 
his  congregation  in  Londonderry  in  an  eminent 
manner.  He  had  prepared  the  way-  for  it  during  the 
previous  winter,  by  most  searching  preaching  of  the 
nature  of  sin,  the  breadth  of  divine  law  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  conversion.  Many  were  brought  into 
great  distress  of  soul;  "  some  burst  out  with  an  audible 
noise  into  bitter  crying."  During  the  whole  summer 
every  sermon  produced  wonderful  impressions  on  the 
hearers.  The  effect  of  these  impressions  he  thus  de- 
scribes: "  Several  would  be  overcome  and  faint- 
ing, others  sobbing,  hardly  able  to  contain,  oth- 
ers crying  in  a  most  dolorous  manner,  many  oth- 
ers more  silently  weeping,  and  a  solemn  concern 
appearing  in  the  countenances  of  many  others.     And 


•12  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

sometimes  the  soul  exercises  of  some  (though  com- 
paratively but  very  few)  would  so  far  affect  their 
bodies  as  to  occasion  some  strange,  unusual  bodily 
motions."  The  joy  and  peace  that  followed  after 
were  usually  as  deep  as  the  distress  that  had  gone  be- 
fore. Afterwards,  he  relates  that  those  who  were  under 
slight  impressions  lost  them  again,  and  fell  into  their 
former  carelessness  and  stupidity.  But  many  gave 
increasing  evidence  of  a  firm  and  saving  change. 

In  1739  and  '40  there  were  also  marked  signs  of  re- 
vival in  New  Brunswick  and  Newark,  N.  J.,  Harvard, 
Mass.,  and  other  places.  The  long,  dark  night  was 
drawing  to  a  close.  The  day  was  near  at  hand. 
Among  ministers  there  was  longing  for  better  experi- 
ence in  their  own  hearts,  better  fruit  in  their  work. 
Among  the  people  there  was  a  deepening  sense  of  the 
unworthy  character  of  their  Christian  life,  the  often 
unscriptural  nature  of  their  hope  and  experience.  God 
was  dealing  with  his  church  and  through  it  with  the 
formative  period  of  our  national  history.  There  were 
great  perils  before  our  land ;  times  of  trial  both  nation- 
al and  religious.  A  struggle  was  coming  that  would 
try  men's  souls.  Infidelity  was  getting  ready  to  make 
brilliant  bids  for  the  controlling  thought  of  the  coun- 
try. The  Lord  was  about  to  lift  up  a  standard  against  it. 

George  Whitefield  wTas  born  in  the  Bell  Inn, 
Gloucester,  England,  on  the  16th  day  of  Dec,  171-1 
(old  style).  His  father  was  a  wine  merchant  in  Bristol, 
and  afterward  an  inn -keeper,  and  died  when  George 
was  only  two  years  of  age.  During  the  lad's  early 
years  he  had  fair  opportunities  for  an  education — at 
fifteen  being  proficient  in  Latin — and  astonishing  his 


REVIVALS    UNDER    WHITEFIELD.  43 

associates  by  his  speeches  and  dramatic  performances 
at  the  public  examinations.  He  seems  to  have  been 
born  a  preacher,  for  in  early  years  he  used  to  "  play 
minister/'  composing  sermons  and  spending  much 
time  in  the  study  of  the  Bible. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  went  to  Oxford.  His 
progress  here  was  rapid.  His  decision,  prompt  ac- 
tion and  hard  working  ambition,  displayed  pluck  not 
unworthy  of  the  man  who  in  later  years  braved  bru- 
tal mobs  with  heroic  boldness,  and  who,  when  the 
present  comforts  of  ocean  traveling  were  things  un- 
thought  of,  again  and  again  crossed  the  turbulent  At- 
lantic; and,  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  his  Sa- 
vior, tramped  American  woods  and  swamps,  seeking 
sinners  and  trying  to  save  them.  The  moral  tone  of 
Oxford  at  this  time  was  at  its  worst,  "  a  learned  den 
of  infidelity  and  dissipation."  He  resisted,  however, 
from  the  first  the  temptation  to  carousals  with  which 
he  was  surrounded.  Studying  his  Bible  and  other  good 
books,  he  had  determined  to  strive  for  a  better  life 
than  that  he  saw  around  him.  But  how  to  attain  it 
he  knew  not.  The  three  following  years  were  years 
of  religious  darkness  and  struggle.  There  were  two 
others  in  the  University  destined  to  like  conspicuous 
places  in  the  church  who  were  in  a  similar  state  of 
mind,  John  and  Chas.  Wesley.  These  three,  beating 
around  in  the  dark,  put  themselves  upon  severe  as- 
cetic regimen  to  find  the  way  of  life.  They  knew  not 
Christ  and  were  trying  to  save  themselves.  In  this 
path  Whiten* eld  hesitated  at  no  sacrifice.  The  worst 
of  food,  the  meanest  apparel,  prolonged  fasting,  mid- 
night vigils  and  other  forms   of   crucifixion   of  the 


44  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

flesh  so  wrought  upon  his  brain  and  nerves  that  he 
was  haunted  with  a  constant  fear  of  seeing  the  devil. 
His  condition,  physical  and  mental,  had  become  alarm- 
ing. His  friends,  the  Weslevs,  knew  not  what  to  do 
for  him;  they  had  not  found  the  light  themselves. 
Happily  his  bodily  constitution  broke  down,  and  by 
prostrating  him  upon  abed  of  sickness  for  six  or  seven 
weeks,  gave  him  an  enforced  rest  from  his  bodily  cru- 
cifixion and  the  torturing  thought  with  which  his  mind 
was  afflicted.  His  mind  became  clearer  as  it  became 
calmer. 

He  spent  much  of  the  time  in  reading  the  Greek 
Testament  and  in  prayer.  Gradually  the  hopeless- 
ness of  his  own  efforts  at  salvation  dawned  upon  his 
mind,  and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  knew  he 
was  lost.  The  decisive  point  in  his  experience  we  give 
in  his  own  words:  "One  day,  perceiving  an  uncom- 
mon drought  and  a  disagreeable  clamminess  in  my 
mouth,  and  using  things  to  allay  my  thirst,  but  in 
vain,  it  was  suggested  to  me  that  when  Jesus  Christ 
cried  out,  '  I  thirst,'  his  sufferings  were  nearly  at  an 
end.  Upon  which  I  cast  myself  down  on  the  bed 
crying  out  *  I  thirst,  I  thirst.'  Soon  after  this  I 
found  and  felt  in  myself  that  I  was  delivered  from 
the  burden  which  had  so  heavily  oppressed  me,  the 
spirit  of  mourning  was  taken  from  me  and  I  knew 
what  it  was  to  rejoice  in  God  my  Savior,  and  for 
some  time  could  not  avoid  singing  psalms  wherever  I 
was.  But  my  joy  gradually  became  more  settled  and, 
blessed  be  God,  has  abode  and  increased  in  my  soul, 
saving  a  few  casual  intermissions  ever  since.  Thus 
were  the  days  of  my  mourning  ended.     After  a  long 


REVIVALS    UNDER   WHITEFIELD.  45 

night  of  desertion  and  temptation,  the  stand  which  I 
had  seen  at  a  distance  before  began  to  appear  again, 
and  the  day-star  arose  in  my  heart.  Now  did  the 
Spirit  of  God  take  possession  of  my  soul,  and,  as  I 
humbly  hope,  seal   me  unto  the  day  of  redemption." 

Sixteen  years  afterward,  reviewing  this  experience, 
he  writes  more  fully  of  his  feelings  at  the  time:  "My 
crying  '  I  thirst,  I  thirst,'  was  not  to  put  myself  on  a 
level  with  Jesus  Christ.  But  when  I  said  those  words, 
my  soul  was  in  an  agony.  I  thirsted  for  God's  salva- 
tion and  a  sense  of  divine  love;  I  thirsted  for  a  clear 
discovery  of  my  pardon  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
seal  of  the  Spirit.  I  was  at  the  same  time  enabled  to 
look  up  to,  and  act  faith  upon  the  glorious  Lord  Jesus 
as  dying  for  sinners,  and  felt  the  blessed  effects  of  it." 

From  this  time  his  spiritual  life  rapidly  deepened. 
Henceforth  his  hungerings  and  thirstings  after  right- 
eousness were  boundless.  The  Bible  became  almost 
his  one  book.  lie  found  his  theology  not  in  the  Uni- 
versity course  or  library,  but  in  prayerful  study  of 
God's  Word.  Some  time  after  his  conversion,  writing 
from  Gloucester,  he  says:  "  I  began  to  read  the  Holy 
Scriptures  upon  my  knees,  laying  aside  all  other 
books  and  praying,  if  possible,  over  every  line  and 
word.  This  proved  meat  indeed  and  drink  indeed  to 
my  soul.  I  daily  received  fresh  lite,  light  and  power 
from  above.  I  got  more  true  knowledge  from  read- 
ing the  book  of  God  in  one  month,  than  I  could  ever 
have  acquired  from  all  the  writings  of  men." 

This  outline  of  his  early  religious  exercises  gives 
an  insight  into  his  future  life  and  work.  "Whitefield, 
the  servitor  at  Oxford,  brought  at  last  to  the  utter  end 


46  TIMES   OF   REFKESHING. 

of  human  endeavor,  and  made  to  surrender  wholly  to 
the  sovereign  grace  of  God  in  Christ,  interprets 
Whitefield,  the  preacher,  casting  himself  never  on  his 
own  resources,  or  on  human  plans,  but  singly  and  al- 
ways upon  the  power  of  God.  He  never  retraced  the 
steps  of  the  lesson  of  those  early  days  of  spiritual 
gloom  and  struggle.  He  accepted  as  the  pole  star  of 
all  future  aims  the  truth  of  Scripture.  "  Not  by 
might  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the 
Lord." 

The  reader  can  hardly  fail  to  notice  the  points  of 
similarity  between  Whitefield's  religious  experience 
and  that  of  the  father  of  the  Reformation.  Luther's 
struggles  in  the  chains  of  his  youthful  sins  were 
matched  by  the  groans  that  came  from  Pembroke 
College  in  such  complaints  as  this:  "If  I- trace  my- 
self from  my  cradle  to  my  manhood,  I  can  see 
nothing  in  me  but  a  fitness  to  be  damned.1'  The  self- 
righteous  attempts  at  salvation  by  the  great  German 
Reformer,  even  to  climbing  the  stairs  at  St.  Peter's  on 
his  knees,  find  a  parallel  in  the  self-lacerations  of  the 
English  student,  who  pressed  on  his  way  of  mortify- 
ing the  flesh  till  the  bones  well-nigh  burst  through 
the  skin,  and  the  mind  staggered  away  from  the  ordeal. 
And  the  perfect  peace,  the  sweet  surrender  at  the  feet 
of  Christ,  the  completeness  of  righteousness,  and  the 
unshaded  acceptance  with  God  through  Christ,  are 
the  same  at  Erfurth  and  Oxford.  The  parallel  might 
be  carried  further.  In  each  case  it  was  the  key-note 
of  life.  As  they  had  received  Christ  in  the  fullness  of 
his  atoning  sacrifice,  so  they  walked  in  Him.  In  each 
case  the  instrument  was  nothing,  and  God  was  all  in  all. 


REVIVALS    UNDER   WHITEFIELD.  47 

Whitefield's  experience  also  interprets  his  theology. 
Those  nights  alone  with  the  Bible  taught  him  in  rare 
measure  the  secrets  of  men's  hearts  and  the  hidings 
of  his  power  in  dealing  with  them.  If  we  would  un- 
derstand his  method  for  winning  men,  we  must  re- 
call how  the  Lord  won  him.  To  that  lesson  he  was 
always  loyal.  The  spirit  had  burned  human  help- 
lessness, and  ruin,  and  divine  grace  too  deeply  into  his 
own  experience  to  allow  him  ever  to  forget  it  in  his 
preaching. 

These  truths  had  been  in  his  own  heart  too  consum- 
ing a  fire  ever  to  allow  him  to  wander  beyond  them. 
The  impressions  of  his  life  were  struck  from  that  early 
type  with  singular  fidelity.  He  became  a  preacher  of 
the  way  in  which  God  had  revealed  His  Son  in  him. 
Hence  he  preached  profoundly  rather  than  broadly. 
Hence  he  did  nothing  but  preach.  He  had  less  cul- 
ture than  his  noble  friend,  Chas.  Wesley,  less  breadth 
of  plan,  less  executive  power,  less  worldly  wisdom  in 
measures  for  extending  the  gospel  than  John  Wesley. 
But  no  preacher  since  Paul  more  grandly  lived  under 
the  light  of  the  Apostle's  single  purpose:  "  This  one 
thing  I  do."  Our  sketch,  therefore,  of  the  revivals 
under  Whitefield  in  this  country  will  be  a  sketch  of 
the  effect  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  preached  by  a  man 
whose  soul  burned  with  Apostolic  consecration.  It 
is  a  history,  not  of  measures,  plans,  or  systems,  but 
simply,  purely  an  account  of  the  wisdom  of  God  mak- 
ing foolish  the  wisdom  of  man,  the  strength  of  God, 
conspicuous  most  in  the  weakness  of  man. 

Whitefield's  first  published  sermon  was  on  the  na- 
ture and  necessity  of  a  new  birth.      The  doctrine,  so 


48  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

common  now,  was  at  that  time  new  and  startling. 
In  his  own  words:  "  It  was  so  seldom  considered  and 
so  little  experimentally  understood  by  the  generality 
of  professors  that,  when  told  they  must  be  born  again, 
they  were  ready  to  cry  out:  'How  can  these  things 
be? '  "  The  effect  of  this  sermon  was  electric.  Mul- 
titudes were  pricked  to  the  heart  and  led  to  Christ, 
but  some  mocked  and  scoffed.  As  the  preacher  went 
on  ringing  the  fundamental  truths  of  spiritual  relig- 
ion in  the  ears  of  the  people,  the  opposition  to  him 
grew  apace.  Bishops  and  priests  united  in  assailing 
him.  He  was  forbidden  many  of  the  pulpits  of  his 
own  church.  Then  he  went  to  the  streets  and  com- 
mons, and  preached  to  the  thousands  who  gladly 
nocked  to  his  words. 

"  His  mighty  deeds  in  the  pulpit  were  blazoned  in 
the  newspapers.  He  preached  nine  times  a  week,  and 
the  people  listened  as  for  eternity.  *  *  *  And 
now  a  few  of  the  clergy  began  to  turn  against  him. 
Some  called  him  a  "spiritual  pick-pocket,"  others 
thought  he  used  a  charm  to  get  the  people's  money. 
Some  were  offended  because  he  was  on  good  terms 
with  the  dissenters,  and  some  forbade  him  the  use  of 
their  pulpits,  unless  he  would  retract  a  wish  expressed 
in  the  preface  of  the  sermon  on  regeneration,  that 
his  brethren  would  preach  more  frequently  on  the 
new  birth." 

At  this  time  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  America. 
The  "Wesleys  had  invited  him  to  Georgia.  Having 
collected  a  thousand  pounds  for  an  orphan  school, 
and  about  three  hundred  for  the  poor  in  Georgia,  the 
already  famous  preacher  embarked  (Dec.  28, 1737,) 
to  cross  the  Atlantic. 


REVIVALS    UNDER   WHITEFIELD.  49 

The  morning  after  reaching  Savannah,  he  began 
his  ministry  on  this  continent  by  preaching  to  an 
audience  of  "  seventeen  adults  and  twenty-live  chil- 
dren." After  a  residence  in  Savannah  of  about  three 
months,  he  returned  to  England,  first  in  order  to  be 
ordained  as  a  priest;  and  secondly,  to  collect  funds  for 
the  orphan  house,  which  had  now  become  very  dear 
to  him. 

After  spending  a  year  in  England,  he  set  sail  again 
for  his  far-away  home  in  the  New  World.  What  a 
year  it  had  been !  He  had  set  all  England  on  fire. 
Thousands  had  been  converted.  Timid  mouths  had 
been  opened.  A  new  era  was  about  to  dawn  on  the 
churches  of  Great  Britain.  But  Whitefield  felt  called 
to  an  humbler  field.  He  was  consumed  with  zeal  to 
preach  the  gospel  in  the  wilderness. 

He  landed  near  Philadelphia,  October  30th.  Here 
he  began  his  wonderful  evangelistic  career.  His 
word,  which  in  England  had  kindled  like  a  torch, 
now  lit  up  the  new  settlements  of  Pennsylvania  and 
New  York,  and  later,  of  Maryland,  Virginia  and  the 
Carolinas.  First  among  the  men  he  met  in  the  New 
World,  and  to  whom  his  soul  became  knit  in  the 
bonds  of  warmest  friendship,  were  the  Tennents,  Wil- 
liam and  Gilbert.  A  sketch  of  their  lives  and  minis- 
try will  be  in  place  here. 

Wm.  Tennent,  Sr.,  was  an  ordained  minister  of  the 
Established  Church  in  Ireland.  Unable  to  conform 
to  some  of  the  terms  imposed  on  the  clergy,  he  was 
deprived  of  his  living,  and  migrated  to  Pennsylvania 
in  1718.  He  was  received  as  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  settled  at  Ne- 


50  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

shaminy,  twenty  miles  north  of  Philadelphia.  There 
in  1720,  he  opened  the  famous  school,  known  in  his- 
tory as  the  "  Log  College,"  in  which  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  ministers  of  that  time  received 
their  education.  He  had  four  sons.  One  of  them, 
Charles,  was  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at 
Whiteclay  Creek.  Another,  John,  was,  for  two  short 
years,  the  greatly  beloved  and  remarkably  successful 
pastor  in  the  old  church  in  Freehold,  N.  J.  In  1732 
death  called  him  from  labors  which  God  had  greatly 
honored  m  the  conversion  of  many  souls.  The  next 
year  his  brother  William  succeeded  him,  and  the  re- 
ligious interest  begun  under  the  labors  of  John  Ten- 
nent,  continued  for  many  years  under  the  ministry  of 
William.  His  pastorate  continued  for  forty-four 
years. 

Gilbert  Tennent  began  his  work  in  New  Brunswick. 
At  first  there  were  no  signs  of  life,  but  after  a  course 
of  close  and  severe  preaching  of  the  claims  of  divine 
law,  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  out  in  a  wonderful 
manner.  He  became  prominent  as  a  revivalist,  and 
was  often  associated  with  Whiten* eld.  Indeed,  the 
love  of  these  men  for  one  another  was  like  the  friend- 
ship between  David  and  Jonathan.  Extracts  from  a 
few  letters  will  give  touching  illustrations  of  this 
friendship.  Mr.  Tennent  writes  to  Whitelield,  from 
New  Brunswick,  thus:  "  I  think  I  never  found  such 
a  strong  and  passionate  affection  to  any  stranger  as  to 
you.  When  I  saw  your  courage  and  labor  for  God  at 
New  York,  I  found  willingness  in  my  heart  to  die 
with  you,  or  to  die  for  you."  Of  Tennent,  Whitefield 
writes  thus:     "Then  I  went  to  the  meeting-house  to 


REVIVALS    UNDER   WHITEFIELD.  51 

hear  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent  preach,  and  never  before 
heard  such  a  searching  sermon.  He  convinced  me 
more  and  more  that  we  can  preach  the  gospel  of 
Christ  no  further  than  we  have  experienced  the  power 
of  it  in  our  own  hearts.  Being  deeply  convicted  of 
sin,  by  God's  Holy  Spirit,  at  his  first  conversion,  Mr. 
Tennent  has  learned  experimentally  to  dissect  the 
heart  of  the  natural  man.  Hypocrites  must  either 
soon  be  converted,  or  enraged  at  his  preaching.  He 
is  a  son  of  thunder,  and  does  not  fear  the  faces  of 
men." 

This  estimate  of  the  power  of  Gilbert  Tennent  is 
amply  confirmed  by  all  we  know  about  him,  and  he 
was  the  instrument  in  God's  hand  not  only  for 
quickening  the  church  and  rescuing  sinners  where- 
ever  his  influence  reached,  but  by  his  courage  and 
fidelity  he  reformed  abuses  that  had  crept  into  the 
church,  and  with  a  few  others  of  like  spirit  changed 
the  whole  character  of  the  Presbyterian  ministry  of 
that  day. 

To  return  to  Whitefield.  His  ministry  in  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  (in  both  which  places  he 
had  the  powerful  and  sweet  company  of  Mr.  Ten- 
nent) was  greatly  blessed.  Not  allowed  in  New 
York  to  preach  in  his  own  church,  "  his  preaching  in 
the  Presbyterian  meeting  house  received  the  sanction 
of  his  Divine  Master."  In  Philadelphia  so  great  was 
the  change  produced  at  this  time  through  the  preach- 
ing of  Whitefield  and  Tennent,  that  Benjamin 
Franklin,  quite  at  a  loss,  from  his  skeptical  standpoint, 
to  explain  the  results,  writes  thus:  "  It  was  wonder- 
ful to  see  the  change  soon  made  in  the  manners  of  our 


52  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

inhabitants.  From  being  thoughtless  and  indifferent 
about  religion,  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  world  were 
growing  religious,  so  that  one  could  not  walk  through 
Philadelphia  in  the  evening  without  hearing  psalms 
sung  in  different  families  of  every  street." 

The  story  of  the  effect  of  Whitefield's  preaching 
on  Franklin  has  often  been  told.  It  will  bear  an- 
other repetition.  Franklin  had  opposed  Whitefield's 
project  for  an  orphanage  in  Georgia,  and  had  refused 
to  contribute.  Soon  after,  he  was  present  at  a  preach- 
ing service  from  the  drift  of  which  he  soon  perceived 
that  the  great  preacher  was  going  to  finish  up  with  a 
collection.  He,  therefore,  braced  himself  in  the  pur- 
pose that  "Whitefield  should  get  nothing  from  him. 
As  the  sermon  proceeded,  the  great  philosopher  soft- 
ten  ed  down  a  little,  and  thought  he  would  give  the 
coppers  that  were  in  his  pocket.  Another  stroke  of 
Whitefield's  oratory  determined  him  to  give  the  sil- 
ver, and  the  conclusion  was  so  overwhelming  that 
Franklin  emptied  his  pockets  into  the  collector's 
plate — copper,   silver,  gold — all. 

He  also  tells  the  following  anecdote:  "At 
this  sermon  there  was  also  one  of  our  club, 
who,  being  of  my  sentiments  respecting  the 
building  in  Georgia,  and  suspecting  a  collection 
might  be  intended,  emptied  his  pocket  before  he  came 
from  home.  Towards  the  conclusion  of  the  dis- 
course, however,  he  felt  a  strong  inclination  to  give 
and  applied  to  a  neighbor  who  stood  near  him  to  lend 
him  money  for  that  purpu.se.  The  request  was  fortu- 
nately made  to  perhaps  the  only  man  in  the  company 
who  had  the  firmness  not  be  affected  by  the  preacher. 


REVIVALS    UNDER   WHITEFIELD.  53 

His  answer  was:  "At  any  other  time,  friend  Hop- 
kinson,  I  would  lend  thee  freely,  but  not  now,  for 
thee  seenis  to  me  to  be  out  of  thy  right  senses." 

Another  writer,  speaking  of  the  surprising  effect 
of  Whitefield's  preaching  in  and  about  Philadelphia, 
says:  "So  great  was  the  enthusiasm  to  hear  Mr. 
Whiteiield  preach  that  many  from  Philadelphia  fol- 
lowed him  on  foot  to  Chester,  to  Abington,  to  Ne- 
shaminy,  and  some  even  to  New  Brunswick  in  New 
Jersey,  the  distance  of  sixty  miles."  Of  the  services 
at  the  latter  place  during  this  time,  Whitefield  writes: 
k- 1  preached  morning  and  evening  to  near  seven  or 
eight  thousand  people,  and  God's  power  was  so  much 
amongst  us  in  the  afternoon  sermon  that  the  cries 
and  groans  of  the  people  would  have  drowned  my 
voice." 

After  a  visit  to  Savannah  to  further  the  interests 
of  the  Orphan  School,  and  sundry  trials  as  well  as 
great  successes,  in  which,  however,  we  have  not  space 
to  follow  him,  he  went  to  do  evangelistic  work  in 
New  England,  landing  at  Newport,  E.  I.,  on  Sep- 
tember 14th,  1740.  The  land  was  ready  for  him. 
We  have  spoken  of  the  preaching  of  Edwards  and 
the  local  revivals.  A  general  desire  for  a  better  re- 
ligious life  seemed  to  be  spreading  through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  Tarrying  onlj  a 
few  days  in  Ehode  Island,  Whitefield  hastened  on  to 
Boston.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  dav  following1  his 
arrival  he  preached  to  about  four  thousand  people  in 
Dr.  Colman's  meeting  house."  During  the  next  few 
weeks  his  labors  in  and  around  Boston  were  hercule- 
an.    His  correspondence  at  this  time  shows  that  he 


54  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

preached  two  or  three  times  daily  to  audiences  num- 
bering from  three  to  eight  thousand,  and  often  spent 
a  large  part  of  the  night  with  inquirers,  who  came  to 
him  in  great  distress. 

The  work  thus  begun  in  Boston  continued  for  a 
year  and  a  half  after  Whitefield's  departure.  Gilbert 
Tennent  remained  nearly  four  months  after  the  great 
evangelist  had  gone,  and  was  wonderfully  instrumen- 
tal in  deepening  and  extending  the  work.  The  gene- 
ral activity  of  the  city  following  this  revival  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  summary:  "Thirty  relig- 
ious societies  were  instituted  in  the  city.  Ministers, 
besides  attending  to  their  usual  work,  preached 
in  private  houses  almost  every  night.  Chapels  were 
always  crowded.  The  very  face  of  the  town  seemed 
to  be  strangely  altered.  Even  the  negroes  and  the 
boys  in  the  streets  left  their  usual  rudeness,  and  tav- 
erns were  found  empty  of  all  but  lodgers." 

From  Boston  Whiteh'eld  went  to  Northampton  to 
visit  Jonathan  Edwards,  and,  of  course,  to  preach  the 
gospel.  Here,  where  there  had  been  precious  revivals 
in  the  preceding  years,  his  ministry  of  a  few  days  was 
greatly  blessed.  "  The  town  seemed  to  be  in  a  great 
and  continual  commotion  day  and  night."  Mr. 
Whiteh'eld  now  left  New  England  for  a  preaching 
tour  Southward,  lingering  a  few  days  in  New  York, 
,  New  Brunswick,  Baskinridge,  Philadelphia  and  many 
other  towns,  his  ministry  everywhere  being  with 
power  over  the  consciences  of  the  people. 

In  New  England  the  gracious  wave  of  blessing 
spread  from  Boston  north  and  south  and  west. 
There  were   great   awakenings  in   Plymouth,  Taun- 


REVIVALS   UNDER   WHITEFIELD.  55 

ton,  Middleborough,  Portsmouth,  Gloucester,  Enfield 
and  many  other  places.  It  was  in  the  last  named 
place  that  Edwards  preached  his  great  sermon  on 
"  Sinners  in  the  hands  of  an  angry  God."  The  revival 
had  not  reached  that  town.  The  people  were  almost 
defiantly  careless  and  unconcerned.  Their  appearance 
at  church,  before  the  preacher  began  his  sermon,  was 
thoughtless  and  vain.  Trumbull,  who  learned  the 
particulars  from  an  eye-witness,  thus  describes  the 
effect  of  the  sermon:  "  Before  the  sermon  was  ended 
the  assembly  appeared  deeply  impressed,  and  bowed 
down  with  an  awful  conviction  of  their  sin  and  dan- 
ger. There  wTas  such  a  breathing  of  distress  and 
weeping  that  the  preacher  was  obliged  to  speak  to 
the  people  and  desire  silence,  that  he  might  be  heard. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  same  great  and  pre- 
vailing concern  in  that  place,  with  which  the  colony 
in  general  was  visited." 

What  shall  be  said  concerning  the  physical  effects 
which  this  sermon  and  the  preaching  of  the  Tennents 
and  other  revivalists  of  this  period  often  produced? 
The  philosophy  of  them,  to  those  who  have  at  all  con- 
sidered the  subtle  action  of  sensitive  nerves  on  the 
body  and  mind  alike,  will  not  be  very  obscure.  The 
falling  and  fainting  fits,  the  convulsions  and  trances 
and  other  physical  manifestations  were  the  result  of 
high  nervous  action  among  a  people,  all  whose  train- 
ing had  been  toward  intense  mental  action  and  in- 
tense feeling.  The  reciprocal  influence  of  mind  and 
nerves  was  not  so  well  understood  then  as  now,  and 
hence  many  things  were  referred  to  supernatural 
agency  that  would  now  be  more  readily  and  simply 


56  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

explained.  But  it  were  folly  to  discount  the  reality 
of  those  works  of  grace,  because  so  often  the  body 
yielded  to  the  severe  stress  of  religious  excitement. 
The  character  of  the  preaching  at  this  time  is  also  an 
element  in  the  explanation  of  this  strange  physical  and 
nervous  action.  Mr.  Tennent's  preaching  is  thus  de- 
scribed: 

"  It  was  frequently  both  terrible  and  searching.  It 
was  often  for  matter,  justly  terrible,  as  he,  according 
to  the  inspired  oracles,  exhibited  the  dreadful  holiness, 
justice,  law,  threatenings,  truth,  power,  majesty  of 
God.  *  *  * .  *  It  was  not  merely,  nor  so  much 
his  laying  open  the  terrors  of  the  law  and  wrath  of 
God,  or  damnation  of  hell;  as  his  laying  open  their 
many  vain  and  secret  shifts;  and  refuges,  counterfeit 
resemblances  of  grace,  delusive  and  damning  hopes, 
their  utter  impotence  and  impending  danger  of  de- 
struction, whereby  they  found  all  their  hopes  and 
refuges  of  lies  to  fail  them  and  themselves  exposed  to 
eternal  ruin,  unable  to  help  themselves  and  in  a  lost 
condition."  The  same  words  would  well  describe  the 
preaching  of  Edwards,  Whitefleld  and  others.  Those 
were  times  of  awful  disclosures  of  human  hearts  and 
unveilings  of  divine  truth.  They  came  after  times  of 
trial  upon  people  who  had  undergone  the  perils  of  wil- 
dernesses and  savages.  There  had  been  two  centuries  of 
tremendous  nervous  excitement.  The  settlers  of  New 
England  were  by  inheritance  people  01  tense  and  sen- 
sitive nerves.  Upon  such  people  the  preaching  of 
that  generation  could  not  come  like  the  dew  on  the 
flowers.  It  was  a  rushing  torrent,  plunging  into  a 
condition  of  intense   thought   and    feeling.      There 


REVIVAXS    UNDER    WHITEFIELD.  57 

were  present  all  the  elements,  both  subjective  and 
objective,  necessary,  not  only  to  determine  the  mind, 
but  to  agitate  and  shake  the  whole  nature. 

While  the  excesses  connected  with  these  early  re- 
vivals do  not  disprove  their  genuine  character,  they 
are  abnormal,  the  results  of  peculiar  temperaments 
and  circumstances,  and  not  to  be  desired.  They  in- 
crease the  dangers  of  false  conversions,  blind  the  minds 
of  the  ignorant,  so  that  nervous  excitement  is  taken 
for  religion  and  in  many  ways  operate  unfavorably 
toward  that  religion  which  is  most  manifest  not  in 
earthquake  or  whirlwind,  but  in  the  silent  influence 
of  the  truth  and  the  "  still,  small  voice"  of  the  Spirit. 

In  1741,  Mr.  Whiten' eld  returned  to  the  old  country. 
His  preaching  in  England  and  in  Scotland,  the  op- 
position to  him,  the  stormy  scenes  through  which  he 
passed,  holding  aloft  steadily  and  gloriously  the 
banner  of  the  cross,  the  immense  crowds  that  in 
streets  and  commons  flocked  to  his  ministry,  the  mul- 
titudes of  conversions,  the  extent  of  the  work,  not  only 
through  Great  Britain,  but  even  on  the  continent, 
these  would  fill  a  volume.  Except  as  they  illustrate 
the  power  of  Whitefield  they  are  aside  from  our  pur- 
pose. 

On  Mr.  Whitefield's  return  to  Boston,  he  encoun- 
tered more  decided  opposition  in  this  country  than  he 
had  ever  met  before.  Many  Congregational  and  Pres- 
byterian ministers  disapproved  his  plans  and  methods, 
and  thought  his  ministry  tended  to  unsettle  pastors  and 
disaffect  churches,  and  that  his  doctrine  was  often- 
times unscriptural  either  in  form  or  substance.  The 
"  Testimony "    adopted   by  the  faculty   of   Harvard 


58  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

College  gives  the  general  animus  of  this  opposition. 
In  it  Whitefield  is  charged,  first,  with  being  "  an  en- 
thusiast," the  charge  being  sustained  by  numerous 
quotations  from  his  journal  and  sermons;  second, 
with  being  an  "  uncharitable,  censorious  and  slander- 
ous man;"  and  third,  with  having  been  "  a  deluder 
of  the  people,"  in  the  affair  of  the  contributions  to  his 
orphan  house,  collecting  money  under  the  impression 
that  he  was  to  have  personal  charge  of  the  school, 
whereas  he  was  all  over  the  country  preaching  the 
gospel.  In  point  of  fact  there  was  nothing  to  the 
charges.  As  to  the  last  one,  Mr.  Whitefield  often 
expressly  declared  his  purpose  to  preach  as  long  as  he 
had  breath  and  wherever  he  could  find  an  audience. 
He  never  for  a  moment  thought  of  settling  down  to 
be  a  pedagogue  at  Savannah.  As  to  the  charge  of  a 
slanderous  and  censorious  disposition,  while  he  spoke 
often  in  severity,  and  was  sometimes  censorious  he  al- 
ways loved  the  people  well  enough  to  be  at  once  faithful 
and  tender.  As  to  the  charge  of  "  enthusiasm  "  he 
would  doubtless  admit  it  to  the  full. 

His  intineracy  was  a  frequent  ground  of  complaint 
against  him.  Dr.  Chauncey  said:  "  Itinerant  preach- 
ing had  its  rise  at  least  in  these  parts  from  Mr. 
Whitefield;  though  I  could  never  see,  I  own,  upon 
what  warrant,  either  from  scripture  or  reason,  he  went 
about  preaching  from  one  province  and  parish  to  an- 
other, when  the  gospel  was  already  preached  and  by 
persons  as  well  qualified  for  the  work  as  he  can  pre- 
tend to  be."  To  this  the  great  preacher  truly  replied, 
"  But  did  I  come  unasked?  Nay;  did  not  some  of 
those  very  persons  who  were  as  well  qualified  for  the 


REVIVALS    UNDER   WHITEFIELD.  59 

work  as  I  could  pretend  to  be,  send  me  letters  of  in- 
vitation? Yes,  assuredly  they  did;  or  otherwise,  in 
all  probability,  I  had  never  seen  New  England."  In 
his  reply  to  the  faculty  of  Harvard  College  he  defends 
itineracy  as  scriptural  and  right.  He  quotes  the  di- 
vine command,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  and  argues  that  it 
authorizes  the  ministers  of  Christ  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  to  preach  the  gospel  in  every  town  and  coun- 
try, though  not  of  their  own  head,  yet  whenever  and 
wherever  Providence  shall  open  a  door,  even  though 
it  should  be  in  a  place  where  officers  are  already  set- 
tled and  the  gospel  is  fully  and  faithfully  preached." 
This,  he  claimed,  was  every  gospel  ministers  indisputa- 
ble privilege.  During  this  opposition  Whitefield  was 
never  for  a  moment  swerved  from  his  work.  He  was 
utterly  tireless  in  his  zeal  and  devotion.  In  Boston, 
Ipswich,  through  Maine,  in  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
through  the  South,  with  the  heart  and  the  tongue  of 
an  apostle,  he  preached  salvation  through  Christ. 

But  our  sketch  of  him  must  close.  He  crossed  the 
Atlantic  thirteen  times,  and  was  the  evangelist  of  two 
continents.  His  quenchless  zeal,  his  matchless  elo- 
quence, his  dauntless  courage,  were  now  the  praise  of 
all  Christian  lands.  The  opposition  gradually  died 
away  under  the  majesty  of  that  glorious  life,  so  single 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  The 
time  was  coming  for  his  reward. 

On  his  last  tour  from  South  to  North, 
stopping  one  day  with  his  old  friend,  William 
Tennent,  to  refresh  his  soul  with  a  company 
of    cherished     ministers,    he    happened    to    express 


60  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

his  joy   at   the   thought   that    he   was    approaching 

the  Kingdom.  All  assented  but  Tennent.  White- 
held  said  to  him:  "Brother  Tennent,  you  are  the 
oldest  man  among  us.  Do  you  not  rejoice  that  your 
being  called  home  is  so  near  at  hand?"  "  I  have  no 
wish  about  it,"  bluntly  answered  Tennent.  White- 
field  pressed  his  question,  and  Tennent  again  replied: 
"No  sir,  it  is  no  pleasure  to  me  at  all,  and  if  you 
knew  your  duty  it  would  be  none  to  you.  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  death.  My  business  is  to  live  as 
long  as  I  can,  and  as  well  as  I  can."  Win tefield  still 
pressed  him,  to  know  if  he  would  not  gladly  die  if 
death  were  within  his  choice.  "  Sir,"  answered  Ten- 
nent, "  I  have  no  choice  about  it.  I  am  God's  ser- 
vant. And  now,  brother  Whitefield,  let  me  ask  you 
a  question.  What  do  you  think  1  would  say  if  I  were 
to  send  my  man  Tom  into  the  field  to  plough,  and  if 
at  noon  I  should  find  him  lounging  under  a  tree,  and 
exclaiming:  'Master,  the  sun  is  hot  and  the  plough- 
ing is  hard,  and  I  am  weary  of  my  work;  do  let  me 
go  home  and  rest.'  What  would  1  say?  Why,  that 
he  was  a  lazy  fellow,  and  that  it  was  his  business  to 
do  the  work  I  had  appointed  him,  until  I  should  think 
fit  to  call  him  home." 

But  Whitefield  truly  ploughed  till  he  was  called 
home.  He  was  now  on  his  last  evangelistic  tour. 
An  anecdote  of  his  pulpit  power  at  this  time  is  worth 
inserting.  "  An  eminent  ship-builder  being  invited 
to  hear  Whitefield,  at  first  made  several  objections, 
but  at  last  was  persuaded  to  go.  '  What  do  you  think 
of  Mr.  Whitefield?'  asked  his  friend.  "'Think,' 
said  he,   *  I  never  heard  such  a  man  in  my  life.     I 


REVIVALS    UNDER    WHITEFIELD.  61 

tell  you  sir,  every  Sunday  when  I  go  to  church  I  can 
build  a  ship  from  stem  to  stern  under-  the  sermon. 
But  were  it  to  save  my  soul,  under  Mr.  Whitefield 
I  could  not  lay  a  single  plank.'  " 

On  his  journey  toward  Boston  he  preached  almost 
constantly,  although  part  of  the  time  seriously  ill. 
Thus  a  biographer,  giving  an  account  of  the  labors  of 
his  last  two  weeks  on  earth,  says:  "  From  September 
17th  to  19th  he  preached  in  Boston,  and  on  the  20th 
at  Newtown.  The  next  two  days  he  was  ill,  but  man- 
aged to  travel  from  Boston  to  Portsmouth,  where  he 
preached  on  the  23d  to  the  25th.  The  26th  he  em- 
ployed at  Kittery;  the  27th  at  Old  York;  the  28th 
at  Portsmouth,  and  the  29th  at  Exeter.  At  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  of  the  30th,  he  died." 

His  last  sermon  was  preached  at  Exeter.  The  peo- 
ple prevailed  on  him  to  stop  there  and  preach  to 
them.  An  immense  audience  assembled  to  hear  him. 
His  pulpit  was  a  hogshead.  His  text  was:  "Exam- 
ine yourselves,  whether  ye  be  in  the  faith."  One  of 
his  biographers  thus  relates  the  scene:  "Mr.  White- 
field  arose  and  stood  erect,  and  his  appearance  alone 
was  a  powerful  sermon.  He  remained  several  min- 
utes, unable  to  speak,  and  then  said:  '  I  will  wait 
for  the  gracious  assistance  of  God;  for  he  will,  I  am 
certain,  assist  me  once  more  to  speak  in  his  name.' 
He  then  delivered,  perhaps,  one  of  his  best  sermons, 
'  I  go,'  he  cried,  'I  go  to  rest  prepared.  My  sun 
has  arisen,  and  by  aid  from  heaven  has  given  light  to 
many.  It  is  now  about  to  set  for — no,  it  is  about  to 
rise  to  the  zenith  of  immortal  glory.  I  have  outlived 
many  on  earth,  but  they  cannot  outlive  me  in  heaven. 


62  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

Oh,  thought  divine!  I  shall  soon  be  in  a  world  where 
time,  age,  pain  and  sorrow  are  unknown.  My  body 
fails;  my  spirit  expands.  How  willingly  would  I  live 
forever  to  preach  Christ,  but  I  die  to  be  with  him." 

That  night,  when  about  to  retire  to  rest,  the  people 
pressed  around  the  parsonage,  and  into  the  hall,  im- 
portunate for  a  few  more  words  from  the  man  they  so 
dearly  loved.  He  paused  on  the  staircase  and  began 
to  speak  to  them.  The  people  thronged  the  hall, 
"  gazing  up  at  him  with  tearful  eyes  as  Elisha  at  the 
ascending  prophet.  His  voice  flowed  on  until  the 
candle,  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  burned  away,  and 
went  out  in  its  socket.  The  next  morning  he  was 
not,  for  God  had  taken  him." 

Thus  died  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  pulpit  orators. 
What  were  the  secrets  of  his  wonderful  power  over 
men?  First  of  all,  he  was  an  orator  of  most  consum- 
mate skill  and  astonishing  resources.  The  manner  of 
his  address  revealed,  or,  rather,  concealed,  the  most 
perfect  art.  Garrick  said  he  could  say  "  Mesopota- 
mia" in  such  accents  as  to  drawT  tears  from  the  hearers. 
At  another  time  he  said:  "I  would  give  a  hundred 
guineas  if  I  could  only  say:  '  Oh!'  like  Mr.  White- 
field."  Mr.  Tyerman,  Mr.  Whitefield's  last  and  cer- 
tainly not  too  partial  biographer,  says:  "  Whitefield 
was  the  greatest  gospel  orator  of  the  age.  He  never 
stretched  after  profundity  of  thought.  A  fine,  highly 
ornamental  style  he  seems  to  have  eschewed  as  much 
as  Wesley  did.  He  preached  simple  truth  with  all 
his  mi glit,  and  witnessed  success  such  as  is  rarely 
given  a  minister  to  see." 

Indeed,  he  was  a  preacher,  in  many  points,  wholly 


REVIVALS   UNDER   WHITEFIELD.  63 

different  from  "Wesley.     The  ministry  of  the  founder 
of  Methodism  was  most  effective  among  the  common 
people,   and  was  not  confined  to  preaching  to  them. 
He  was  a  great  captain  and  organizer.      "Whitefield, 
on  the  contrary,  did  almost  nothing  but  preach.     His 
preaching,  however  so  united  simplicity  and  fervor 
with   the  perfection  of  diction,  attitude,  accent,  all, 
indeed,   that  goes  to  make  the  skillful  orator  that 
every  class  hung  delighted  upon   his   utterance.     In 
England,  the  clergy,   lords   and  ladies,   and  literary 
men  crowded  into  his  audiences,  and  vied  with  each 
other  in  their  praises  of  his  eloquence.    In  this  country 
his  fame  was  as  great.   Franklin  was  enthusiastic  in  his 
expressions,  and  we  have  already  narrated  how,  to  his 
cost,  he  learned  how  great  was  the  orator's  power. 
Dr.  Gillies,  of  Glasgow,  gives  a  most  careful  analy- 
sis of  his  oratorical  power.    He  says:  "  His  eloquence 
was  great,  and  of  the  true  and  noblest  kind.      He 
seemed  to  be  quite  unconscious  of  the  talents  he  pos- 
sessed.     *      *      *       The  grand  sources  of  his  elo- 
quence were  an  exceedingly  lively  imagination  and 
an  action  still  more  lively.     Every  accent  of  his  voice 
spoke  to  the  ear,  and  every  motion  of  his  hands  spoke 
to  the  eye." 

This  as  to  the  manner  of  his  speech.  The  matter 
of  it  was  the  gospel  of  Christ  in  its  simplicity  and 
power.  His  preaching  was  at  once  severe  with  the 
unsparing  energy  of  truth,  and  gentle  under  the 
moving  of  a  great  love  for  souls.  He  spoke  to  the 
conscience,  awaking  the  sense  of  sin  and  guilt 
against  a  holy  God.  He  spoke  to  the  heart,  holding 
up  in  ever  new  light  the  changeless  love  of  God.     He 


64c  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

preached  the  old  doctrines  of  grace.  It  was  emphat- 
ically ''the  old,  old  story."  And  finally,  he 
was  an  unselfish,  consecrated,  holy  man.  He  lived 
for  God  with  a  purpose  absolutely  undivided. 

A  few  words  upon  the  general  results  of  the 
revivals  running  from  1740  to  1770,  will  close 
tins  chapter.  The  Congregational  churches  added 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  new  churches  to  their 
roll  in  E"ew  England.  The  number  of  Presbyterian 
churches  was  more  than  doubled.  Baptist  churches  also 
greatly  increased  in  number.  The  converts  have  been 
numbered  at  about  fifty  thousand.  On  this  basis  the 
effects  of  the  revival  in  the  conversion  of  sinners, 
was  as  great  in  proportion  to  the  population  as  if 
there  should  now  be  a  series  of  revivals  gathering 
four  hundred  thousand  people  into  the  churches. 

Yet,  indeed,  that  is  but  a  superficial  estimate, 
which  counts  only  the  converts.  There  are  other 
fruits  broader,  deeper,  and  themselves  continually 
productive.  Prominent  among  these  is  the  higher 
tone  of  spiritual  life  in  the  church.  The  preaching 
of  Edwards,  Whitefield  and  Tennent  opened  the  mind 
of  the  church  of  their  day  to  the  startling  truth  that 
in  greater  or  less  measure  an  unconverted  ministry 
had  entered  the  pulpits  and  unconverted  communi- 
cants gathered  at  the  Lord's  table.  Granted  that 
all  three  of  them  were  severe  and  often  uncharitable 
in  their  judgments  of  their  brethren,  it  is  clear  there 
was  only  too  much  ground  for  severity.  The  revival 
strengthened  the  various  denominations  to  exact  of 
candidates  for  the  ministry  clearer  evidence  of  personal 
piety,  and  destroyed  the  idea  that  mere  knowledge  of 


REVIVALS    UNDER    WHITEFIELD.  65 

the  catechism,  without  evidence  or  profession  of  re- 
generation, was  sufficient  qualification  for  church- 
membership. 

Not  only  so,  but  the  exaltation  of  the  cardinal  doc- 
trines of  grace  in  the  preaching  and  teaching  of  that 
time  had  a  most  wholesome  effect  in  nourishing  the 
new  life  of  the  church  and  making  vigorous  Chris- 
tians and  vigorous  preachers.  JSTot  in  vain  did 
Whitefield  preach  "  the  new  birth  "  over  and  over, 
from  Savannah  to  Boston. 

Among  the  educational  fruits  of  the  revival  may 
be  mentioned  Princeton  and  Dartmouth  Colleges. 
The  latter  college  was  founded  in  1770,  and  in  connec- 
tion with  its  founding  there  was  a  series  of  revivals 
extending  through  several  years,  and  over  a  large 
district  round  about.  These  revivals  were  evidently 
a  continuation  of  those  of  1740  and  possessed  many 
of  their  leading  characteristics. 

The  influence  of  the  revivals  on  the  nation,  which 
was  just  entering  its  most  critical  period,  was  doubt- 
less greater  than  can  well  be  defined.  The  men  of 
the  Revolution  were  in  the  formative  period  of  youth 
when  Whitefield's  eloquence  and  zeal  lit  up  the  whole 
land.  They  can  hardly  have  failed  to  learn  lessons 
of  high  virtue  and  courage  from  men  who,  for 
Christ's  sake,  braved  every  peril  and  shrank  from  no 
sacrifice.  Not  only  so,  but  the  land  was  to  be  brought 
into  close  relations  and  alliance  with  France,  where 
infidelity  was  rife  and  was  soon  to  be  in  the  ascendant. 
Forcibly  on  this  point  does  Tracy  say :  Ci  The  relig- 
ious principles  of  the  country  needed  to  be  strength- 
ened  in  advance  against  all  these  dangers,  and  with 


66  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

all  the  accessions  of  strength  that  religion  received 
from  the  revival,  it  did  but  just  stand  the  shock,  and 
for  a  long  time  many  of  the  pious  feared  that  every- 
thing holy  would  be  swept  away.  Strengthened 
by  so  many  tens  of  thousands  of  converts,  and  by 
the  deep  sense  of  the  importance  of  religion  produced 
in  other  tens  of  thousands,  both  in  and  out  of  the 
churches,  religion  survived  in  time,  rallied  and  ad- 
vanced, and  is  marching  on  to  victory." 

There  is  another  result  of  this  revival,  the  fruits  of 
which,  in  full  measure,  we  are  just  beginning  to  reap. 
We  have  said  Whitefield  was  our  first  itinerant  evan- 
gelist. He  stoutly  defended  the  right  of  every  minis- 
ter to  find  his  audience  wherever  he  could.  This 
evangelism  has  limitations.  "We  shall  have  occasion 
in  a  subsequent  chapter  to  define  its  boundaries.  But 
in  Whitehead's  splendid  ministry  that  fact  is  unrolled 
to  the  world,  which  ecclesiasticism  had  for  a  long 
time  obscured,  that  "  the  field  is  the  world  " — that 
the  gospel  needs  to  be  everywhere  proclaimed,  and 
that  some  of  the  grandest  periods  of  church  history 
have  been  periods  of  itinerant  evangelism.  Especially 
when  the  church  has  gone  to  sleep  among  altars  on 
which  the  sacred  fire  is  dying,  does  God  call  men  to 
rise  above  churches  and  to  refuse  to  bound  their  in- 
fluence by  any  particular  place,  and  to  "  go  every- 
where preaching  the  gospel."  Such  there  were  in 
apostolic  times,  such  there  were  in  the  Reformation 
in  Germany,  such  were  Knox  and  his  co-laborers  in 
Scotland,  such  wTas  Whitefield.  Before  the  fullness  of 
the  Gentiles  shall  be  gathered  in  there  will  be  many 
more — the  flying  artillery  of  the  army  of  the  Lord. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

REVIVAL  OF  1800. 

The  great  revival  of  which  we  spoke  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter  was,  as  we  designated  it,  specially  a  revival 
through  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  "  There  were 
giants  in  those  days,"  and  with  giant  strength  did 
they  wield  the  sword  of  the  Spirit;  and  the  hearts  of 
the  King's  enemies  bowed  before  them.  During  the 
latter  part  of  that  period,  from  1750  to  1770,  the 
spirit  of  revival  gradually  died  out  of  the  churches. 
There  were  still  marked  signs  of  divine  favor  wherev- 
er "Whitefield  and  his  associates  went,  but  the  work  of 
grace  was  during  that  time  local  rather  than  general. 

From  1770  to  the  close  of  the  century  was  a  time 
of  great  spiritual  death.  There  were  a  few  local 
revivals  in  New  England  and  the  Middle  States, 
and  some  of  decided  power  in  Virginia,  but  the 
general  state  of  the  church  was  one  of  coldness 
and  apathy.  For  this  deplorable  condition  of  church 
life  there  were  manifest  reasons. 

In  the  first  place,  the  "  old  French  war,"  by  which 
France  sought  to  gain  a  foothold  in  the  provinces  of 
the  new  world  by  surrounding  them  with  a  cordon 
of  garrisons  and  troops  from  Quebec  to  New  Orleans, 

67 


68  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

greatly  distracted  the  minds  of  the  people  and  cen- 
tered all  thoughts  on  the  supreme  one  of  self-defense. 
In  the  second  place,  when  this  peril  had 
passed  away,  the  colonies  were  on  the  very 
eve  of  an  open  rupture  with  the  mother  coun- 
try. The  clouds  which  had  long  been  gathering 
were  ready  to  let  loose  their  bolts.  A  time  of  war 
is  almost  never  a  time  of  religious  prosperity.  With 
the  dawn  of  1776,  therefore,  all  the  energies  of  the 
people  were  turned  away  from  religion,  and  every 
peaceful  pursuit  and  concentered  in  the  bloody  torrent 
of  a  seven  years'  struggle.  The  close  of  the  war  was 
hardly  more  favorable  for  spiritual  life  than  had  been 
its  absorbing  progress.  The  disbanded  armies,  long 
used  to  camp  license  and  sin,  sowed  seeds  of  bad 
morals  through  all  the  communities.  Intemperance, 
profanity,  Sabbath-breaking,  and  other  sins  abounded. 
The  church,  so  long  asleep,  with  only  a  name  to  live, 
was  in  no  condition  to  resist  them.  Then  from 
France,  the  friend  and  ally  of  our  country,  came  an- 
other and  a  far  greater  peril.  The  infidelity  which 
brought  on  the  French  Revolution  was  sending  its 
baneful  influences  across  the  water.  The  colonies 
were  flooded  with  infidel  books.  France  won  the 
sympathies  of  the  New  States  by  writing  "liberty" 
upon  her  banners,  and  so  gained  access  to  the  best 
thought  of  the  country.  Voltaire,  Yolney  and  Paine 
spread  their  blasphemous  publications  widely  through 
the  land.  It  was  a  time  of  unequaled  peril.  In 
Paris  the  boast  was  openly  made  that  in  a  few  years 
the  religion  of  Christ  would  be  blotted  from  the 
earth.     In  our  own  country  the  same  fearful  prophe- 


EEVIVAL  OF  1800.  69 

cies  were  echoed.  So  we  approached  the  end  of  the 
century; — death  in  the  churches,  rottenness  in  public 
morals,  infidelity  coming  in  like  a  flood  upon  the 
schools  and  the  thinkers  of  the  young  republic. 

This  was  God's  time  to  lift  a  standard  against  the 
enemy.     And  if  ever  there  was  a  revival  of  which  it 
might  be  said,  it  was  the  direct  interposition  of  God  to 
save  His  church  and  save  the  state,  it  surely  may  be  so 
said  of  the  one  we  are  now  considering.     Some  revivals 
have  more  of  the   human  element  than  others.      In 
every  true  work   of  grace  the   fact   of  God's    Spirit 
present  with  His  church,  is  of  course  assumed.     But 
in  some  the  lines  of  human  agency  can  be  quite  dis- 
tinctly followed.     In  some  cases  it  is  preaching,  in 
others  it  is  organized  personal  effort.    But  the  revival 
of  1800  came  from  God  so  straight  that  no  footfall  of 
human  activity  announced  its  coming.      There  were 
no  signs   in  the  sky.     It  fell  as   did  the  manna  upon 
famishing  Israel — silently,  everywhere,  and  plentiful- 
ly.    Indeed  there  were  many  and  faithful  preachers 
at  that  time,  worthy  successors  of  the  men  of  1740. 
There  was  Bellamy  and  Griffin,  and  the  younger  Ed- 
wards, Dwight,  Mason,  Livingston  and  many  others. 
The  Lord  girded  them  to  gather  the  ripening  vintage. 
But  it  was  His   sunlight   that  brought   the   harvest. 
That  harvest  ripened  almost   simultaneously  in  New 
England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and   the    South. 
There  were  no  evangelists  like  Whitefield  to  go  from 
place  to  place  with  a  John-the-Baptist  call  to  repent- 
ance.    There  was  no  union  of  effort  like  that  which 
characterizes   present   revivals.     It  was   a  revival  in 
the  church  and  under   the   ordinary  ministrations  of 


70  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING-. 

the  pastor.  There  were  almost  no  protracted  meet- 
ings, nothing  that  in  modern  phrase  would  be  called 
revival  services.  A  neighboring  minister  would 
come  to  the  help  of  the  pastor  on  Sunday,  a  "  confer- 
ence" meeting  would  be  held  in  connection  with  the 
public  service,  one  or  two  "  week-day  lectures"  would 
be  given  as  the  interest  seemed  to  demand,  and  ser- 
vices, not  very  unlike  the  present  cottage  prayer-meet- 
ing, would  be  held  in  outlying  districts  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  that  was  all. 

And  yet  this  revival,  so  quietly  conducted  that 
while  in  the  midst  of  it  you  would  hardly  know,  by 
any  outward  stir,  that  there  was  a  revival  at  all,  shook 
the  new  states  as  they  have  hardly  been  shaken  since. 

Let  us  briefly  sketch  the  work  in  some  of  the  more 
marked  centers  of  its  power.  It  is  called  the  revival 
of  1800.  The  first  movings  of  it  came  several  years 
earlier.  Dr.  Edward  D.  Griffin  graduated  at  Yale 
College  in  1790,  and  studied  theology  with  the  young- 
er President  Edwards.  When  he  was  licensed  in 
1792  and  returned  to  his  father's  house  in  East  Had- 
dam,  he  found  himself  the  only  professor  of  religion 
in  a  family  of  ten  persons.  He  began  his  work 
there  among  his  kindred.  One  of  his  sisters  was 
the  first  seal  of  his  ministry.  "That,"  said  he> 
"  was  the  beginning  of  American  revivals  so  far  as 
they  fell  under  my  personal  observation,  and  from 
that  moment  I  know  they  have  never  ceased."  In  Jan- 
uary he  commenced  preaching  in  New  Salem,  where 
his  labors  were  blessed  in  "  a  revival  of  great  power, 
and  a  church  was  gathered  where  there  had  not  been 
one  for  forty  years." 


REVIVAL   OF   1800.  71 

Referring  to  this  period,  he  says:  "I  had  an  op- 
portunity to  see  the  whole  field  of  death  before  a 
bone  began  to  move,  and  no  one  who  comes  upon  the 
stage  forty  years  afterwards  can  have  any  idea  of  the 
state  of  things  at  that  time." 

In  1828  Dr.  Griffin  preached  a  sermon  at  the  dedi- 
cation of  a  chapel  at  Williams  College,  of  which  he 
was  then  president,  in  which  he  thus  refers  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  revival:  "The  year  1792  it  has  often 
been  said,  ushered  a  new  era  into  the  world.  In  that 
year  commenced  that  series  of  revivals  in  America, 
which  has  never  been  interrupted,  night  or  day,  and 
which  never  will  be  until  the  earth  is  full  of  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  In  ponder- 
ing upon  the  destinies  of  this  college  in  illumined 
moments — in  moments  of  intense  interest — it  has 
been  no  indifferent  thought  that  it  arose  into  being  at 
that  punctnm  of  time;  that  it  opened  upon  the  world 
when  those  other  institutions  began  to  open  which 
are  full  of  salvation — when  the  redemption  of  Africa 
commenced  at  Sierra  Leone  and  St.  Domingo — 
when  that  moral  change  began  which  has  swept  from 
so  large  a  part  of  New  England  its  looseness  of  doc- 
trine and  laxity  of  discipline,  and  awakened  an  evan- 
gelical pulse   in  every  vein  of  the  American  church. 

"  It  was  my  happiness  to  be  early  carried  by  the 
providence  of  God  to  Litchfield  county,  Conn.,  and  to 
be  fixed  in  that  scene  where  the  heavenly  influence 
was  to  send  out  its  stronger  radiations  to  different 
parts  of  the  country;  where  thrice  twenty  congrega- 
tions, in  contiguous  counties,  were  laid  down  in  one 
field  of  divine  wonders.     There  it  was  my  privilege 


72  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

to  be  most  intimately  associated  with  such  men  as 
Mills  and  Gillett  and  Hallock — names  which  will  be 
ever  dear  to  the  church  on  earth,  and  some  of  which 
are  now  familiar  in  heaven.  Their  voices,  which  I 
often  heard  in  the  silent  groves,  and  in  the  sacred  as- 
semblies which  followed,  and  in  the  many,  many 
meetings  from  town  to  town,  have  identified  them  in 
my  mind  with  all  those  precious  revivals  which  opened 
the  dawn  of  a  new  day  upon  our  country." 

As  an  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  God  pre- 
pared the  work  of  grace  by  invisible  processes,  it  is 
interesting  to  notice  the  experience  by  which  God 
trained  some  of  the  men  who  were  most  blessed  in 
their  ministry  at  this  time.  The  experience  of  Mr. 
Hallock,  whom  Mr.  Griffin  mentions  in  the  extract 
above,  is  a  case  in  point.  He  had  never  seen  or  heard 
of  a  revival,  and  knew  nothing  about  conviction  or 
conversion.  In  1779,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one 
while  at  work  alone,  "  he  was  impressed  with  a  sense 
of  his  dependence  on  God  and  of  the  sinfulness  of 
his  heart,  which  seemed  so  black  and  polluted  that 
he  could  hardly  avoid  crying  out."  At  length,  as 
he  afterwards  wrote:  "The  law  of  God  appeared 
just,  I  saw  myself  a  sinner,  and  Christ  and  the  way 
of  salvation  by  him  looked  pleasant.  I  thought  it 
was  a  happiness  to  be  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  that 
I  could  trust  my  all  to  him.  It  still  did  not  occur 
to  me  that  I  had  experienced  a  change  of  heart." 
Soon  after  this,  while  engaged  in  military  service,  he 
called  his  comrades  around  him  and  exhorted  them 
on  the  subject  of  religion.  His  words  were  winged 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.     It  was  the  beginning  of  a  re- 


REVIVAL    OF    1800.  73 

vival.  Meetings  were  held,  and  as  Mr.  Hallock  seemed 
to  be  the  first  of  the  converts,  the  conduct  of  them 
was  placed  in  his  hands.  He  then  began  to  study  for 
the  ministry,  and  in  his  first  charge,  in  a  few  weeks 
there  were  a  hundred  hopeful  conversions.  He  and 
Dr.  Griffin  were  settled  in  neighboring  parishes.  Dr. 
Humphrey  says:  "  They  both  had  tasted  the  bless- 
edness of  revivals,  and  together  they  mourned  and 
wept  and  wrestled  for  perishing  souls  and  the  lan- 
guishing interests  of  Zion.  One  or  more  of  the 
groves  is  still  pointed  out  where  they,  with  neighbor- 
ing pastors,  used  to  retire  from  the  world  to  agon- 
ize for  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  day  of 
mercy  was  near." 

The  work  now  spread  rapidly  on  all  sides.  Infidels 
who  had  long  preached  infidelity  were  brought  into 
fearful  distress  of  mind,  and  in  many  cases  were  con- 
verted. One  of  them,  with  trembling  limbs,  cried 
out:  "  I  am  the  wretch  who  have  murdered  Christ. 
I  have  talked  a  great  deal  against  the  gospel,  but 
there  was  always  something  in  my  heart  which  said 
it  was  true."  He  was  brought  into  deep  and  long 
despair,  but  at  last  God  had  mercy  upon  him,  and  he 
found  in  Christ  his  best  friend. 

The  deep  spiritual  exercises  of  the  converts  in 
these  first  stages  of  this  great  revival  are  worthy  of 
special  remark.  Frequently,  without  any  public 
means  of  grace,  a  sense  of  sin  so  great  as  to  be  well- 
nigh  crushing  would  fall  upon  the  soul.  The  anguish 
of  soul  would  so  deepen  that  perforce  the  convicted 
person  was  constrained  to  seek  some  minister  or  oth- 
er Christian,  and  raise  the  old  question,  "  What  must 


74  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

I  do  to  be  saved?"  Writes  one:  "Several  were 
brought  under  distressing  conviction  at  midnight 
on  their  beds,  and  many  in  such  circumstances  that 
it  could  not  be  accounted  for  on  any  principle  but  the 
sovereign  power  and  mercy  of  God."  Thus  in  many 
instances  the  first  knowledge  ministers  had  of  any 
special  interest  in  their  congregation  would  be  in 
these  solemn  and  anxious  visits. 

What  was  the  general  tone  of  the  preaching  in 
New  England  at  this  time?  It  may  somewhat  ex- 
plain these  depths  of  conviction  of  sin.  Dr.  Hyde, 
of  Lee,  Mass.,  in  whose  church  there  was  a  great  and 
precious  work  of  grace,  thus  gives  the  substance  of 
his  preaching:  "The  holiness  and  immutability  of 
God,  the  purity  and  perfection  of  His  law;  the  en- 
tire depravity  of  the  heart,  consisting  in  voluntary 
opposition  to  God  and  holiness;  the  fullness  and  all- 
sufficiency  of  the  atonement  made  by  Christ;  the 
freeness  of  the  offer  of  pardon,  made  to  all  on  condi- 
tion of  repentance;  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  heart 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  arising  from  the  deep-rooted  de- 
pravity of  men,  which  no  created  arm  could  remove; 
the  utter  inexcusableness  of  sinners  in  rejecting  the 
kind  overtures  of  mercy,  as  they  acted  freely  and 
voluntarily  in  doing  it,  and  the  duty  and  reasonable- 
ness of  immediate  submission  to  God.  These  are 
some  of  the  truths  which  God  appeared  to  own  and 
bless,  and  which,  through  the  agency  of  the  Spirit, 
were  made  'quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than 
any  two-edged  sword.'  " 

The  revival  under  this  preaching  continued  quietly, 
solemnly,  steadily,  for  a  year  and  a  half.     The  visible 


REVIVAL    OF    1800.  75 

results  were  about  a  hundred  and  ten  additions  to 
the  church  and  a  surprising  change  in  the  religious 
sentiments  and  feelings  of  the  people,  and  in  the 
general  aspect  of  the  town. 

Rev.  Moses  Hallock,  of  Plainfield,  Mass.,  in  giving 
an  account  of  the  work  in  that  town,  gives  a 
summary  of  the  distinguishing  marks  of  the  revival. 
He  speaks  of  the  depth  of  conviction  as  springing 
not  so  much  from  a  fear  of  punishment  as  from  a 
sense  of  sin  against  God,  which  took  away  all  their 
peace,  and  of  the  great  doctrines  of  grace  which  have 
been  owned  of  God,  and  whatever  may  have  been 
the  antecedent  prejudices,,  have  been  in  every  case 
humbly  accepted  by  the  converts.  Many  of  these  had 
been  scoffers,  and  had  long  sought  to  fortify  them- 
selves in  skepticism  as  a  refuge  against  the  threaten- 
ings  of  divine  law. 

In  Washington,  Conn.,  under  the  labors  of  Dr. 
Ebenezer  Porter,  afterward  Professor  at  Andover,  there 
was  a  very  penetrating  revival  in  1803.  We  give 
Dr.  Porter's  account  of  it:  "Near  the  close  of  the 
summer  of  1803,  several  persons  became  seriously 
impressed.  Weekly  conferences  were  revived.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  the  operations  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
were  discernible  in  every  part  of  the  society.  The 
church,  which  had  appeared  to  languish  as  with  a 
wasting  hectic,  put  on  the  aspect  of  returning  health. 
Through  the  next  spring  and  summer,  though  thir- 
teen had  been  added  to  the  church,  we  were  still 
between  hope  and  fear.  God's  people  longed  for, 
rather  than  expected,  a  revival.  They  scarcely 
dared  to  believe  that    the    day   had   indeed    dawned 


76  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

which  was  to  succeed  a  night  of  more  than  sixty 
years.  But  in  the  Autumn,  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness arose  upon  us  with  healing  in  his  wings.  As  in 
the  valley  of  Ezekiel's  vision,  there  was  a  great 
shaking.  Dry  bones,  animated  by  the  breath  of  the 
Almighty,  stood  up  new-born  believers.  The 
children  of  Zion  beheld  with  overflowing  hearts, 
and  with  thankful  tongues  acknowledged,  '  This  is  the 
linger  of  God.'  The  work  was  stamped  conspicuously 
with  the  impress  of  its  divine  author,  and  its  joyful 
effects  evinced  no  other  than  the  agency  of  Omnipo- 
tence. So  manifestly  it  was  the  work  of  God,  that  op- 
position, however  it  might  have  rankled  in  the  bo- 
soms of  individuals,  was  awed  into  silence.  Many 
old  professors,  amidst  the  majesty  and  glory  of  the 
scene,  seemed  unable  to  contain,  and  equally  unable 
to  express  the  wonder  and  joy  of  their  hearts.  Dur- 
ing a  winter  unusually  severe,  nothing  could  surpass 
the  resolution  with  which  numbers  attended,  to  be 
instructed  in  the  way  of  salvation.  From  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  season,  apprehensions  were  entertained 
for  persons  of  delicate  constitutions;  but  the  people 
were  seldom  or  never  more  healthy. 

"  As  the  first-fruit  of  this  precious  and  memorable 
season,  fifty-four  persons  have  been  added  to  the 
church,  none  of  whom,  blessed  be  God,  have  been  left 
to  discredit  their  holy  profession." 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  New  Eng- 
land revivals  occurred  in  the  little  village  of  Boscawen, 
N.  H.,  in  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Dr.  Wood.  A  revival 
had  never  been  known  there.  Dr.  Wood  modestly 
felt  if  his  work  might  only  be  crowned  with  the  sal- 


REVIVAL    OF    1800.  77 

vation  of  one  soul,  it  would  be  reward  sufficient. 
But  a  healthful  state  of  religious  interest,  amounting 
almost  to  a  continuous  revival,  began  in  1782,  and 
went  increasingly  on  until  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century.  In  a  small  inland  congregation 
Dr.  Wood  had  the  pleasure  of  fitting  one  hundred 
students  for  college — of  whom  more  than  forty  en- 
tered the  gospel  ministry. 

We  have  not  space  to  follow  the  details  of  a  work 
that  was  almost  as  extensive  as  New  England.  Rev. 
J  no.  B.  Preston,  writing  from  Rutland,  Vermont, 
says:  "  Within  little  more  than  a  year,  the  Spirit 
has  also  been  wonderfully  poured  out  upon  a  number 
of  towns,  and  about  a  thousand  have  been  added  to 
the  churches  of  Christ  in  Bennington  and  Rutland 
counties.  Bennington,  Sandgate,  Rupert,  Dorset, 
Tinmouth,  Rutland,  Biandon,  Pittsford,  Benson,  and 
Orwell,  have  shared  the  most  largel}-  in  this  shower 
of  divine  grace.  Not  less  than  fifty  have  been  added 
to  the  church  in  each  of  these  towns,  and  in  several, 
more  than  a  hundred.  Most  of  the  other  towns  have 
shared  in  some  degree." 

In  New  York  similar  scenes  were  witnessed.  Dr. 
John  M.  Mason  was  installed  in  1793.  His  ministry 
was  greatly  blessed.  Within  a  short  time  six  hun- 
dred were  added  to  his  church,  and  the  increase,  he 
said,  "  owes  nothing  to  soothing  doctrines  or  to  re- 
missness of  discipline."  The  sainted  Isabella  Gra- 
ham, writing  of  him  in  his  youth,  says :  "  Our  young 
Timothy  is  a  champion  for  the  gospel  of  Jesus.  The 
Lord  has  well  girded  him  and  largely  endowed  him.  He 
walks  closely  with  God,  and  speaks  and  preaches  like 


78  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

a  Christian  of  long  experience.  He  was  ordained 
and  installed  about  two  months  ago  in  his  father's 
church.  O  for  a  thankful  heart!  The  Lord  has  done 
wonders  for  me  and  mine;  and  blessed  be  his  name, 
that  in  a  remarkable  manner  he  hedged  me  in  to  be- 
come a  member  of  this  congregation,  where  I  am  led 
and  fed  with  the  same  truths  which  nourished  my 
soul  in  Zion's  gates  at  Edinburgh;  and  I  am  helped 
to  sing  the  Lord's  song  in  a  strange  land." 

In  Newark,  N.  J.,  the  spirit  of  revival  descended 
on  the  churches  in  1806.  It  was  preceded  by  a  spirit 
of  prayer.  Dr.  Griffin  writes  to  Dr.  Ashbel  Green: 
"  Early  in  September  many  private  associations  for 
prayer  were  formed,  and  I  never  witnessed  the  com- 
munication of  so  earnest  a  spirit  of  prayer,  and  so 
general,  nor  observed  such  evident  and  remarkable 
answers  to  prayer.  The  agonies  of  parents  have  been 
such  as  to  drive  sleep  from  their  eyes,  and  for  weeks 
together  have  been  seemingly  as  great  as  their  nature 
could  well  sustain.  And  these  parents,  in  every  case 
that  has  come  within  my  knowledge,  have  each  seve- 
ral children  who  are  already  numbered  among  the 
hopeful  converts.  What  a  testimony  to  the  truth 
of  God's  promises,  and  what  an  encouragement  to 
prayer!  In  this  revival  between  two  and  three  hun- 
dred were  converted  in  the  then  small  town  of  New- 
ark. They  were  from  all  classes,  from  nine  years  old 
to  more  than  threescore  and  ten,  and  of  all  charac- 
ters, including  drunkards,  apostates,  infidels,  and 
those  who  were  lately  malignant  opposers,  and  of  all 
conditions,  including  poor  negroes,  and  many  of  them 
hoary  with  age.     While  we  gaze  with  wonder  and  de- 


REVIVAL  OF  1800.  79 

light  at  these  glorious  triumphs  of  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  and  weep  for  joy  to  hear  babes  and  sucklings 
sing  hosannas  to  the  Son  of  David,  we  cannot  but 
join  in  the  general  response,  and  cry,  '  Blessed  is  he 
that  coraeth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Hosanna  in 
the  highest!'  " 

Some  of  the  most  signal  revivals  of  this  period 
were  in  Virginia.  The  rise  of  one  in  Hampden -Sid- 
ney college,  as  early  as  1788,  is  an  interesting  story. 
Eev.  Dr.  Win.  Hill,  in  his  youth,  was  a  student  in 
the  college.  A  pious  lady  sent  him  a  copy  of  "Al- 
leine's  Alarm."  The  reading  deeply  affected  him. 
He  soon  found  out  there  were  two  or  three  other  stu- 
dents anxious  about  their  souls.  They  gathered  for  a 
prayer-meeting — a  thing  they  had  never  heard  of  be- 
fore. The  other  students  heard  the  singing,  and  tried 
to  break  up  the  meeting.  So  serious  was  the  distur- 
bance, the  president,  the  excellent  Dr.  John  Blair 
Smith,  had  to  investigate  the  cause  of  it.  The  good 
man  heard  of  the  little  prayer-meeting,  and  of  the 
purpose  of  the  rioters  that  there  should  be  no  such 
doings  there.  Looking  at  the  youths  charged  with 
the  sin  of  praying,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  he  said: 
"  Oh,  is  there  such  a  state  of  things  in  this  college? 
Then  God  has  come  near  to  us.  My  dear  young 
friends,  you  shall  be  protected.  You  shall  hold  your 
next  meeting  in  my  parlor,  and  I  will  be  one  of  your 
number."  Sure  enough  they  had  their  next  meeting 
in  his  parlor,  and  half  the  college  were  there.  And 
there  began  a  glorious  revival  of  religion,  which  per- 
vaded the  college,  and  spread  into  the  country 
around. 


80  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

"  Two  hundred  and  twenty  persons,  chiefly  young 
people,  were  added  to  the  churches  to  which  he  min- 
istered within  eighteen  months;  and  the  revival  ex- 
tended over  Prince  Edward,  Cumberland,  Charlotte 
and  Bedford  counties,  and  to  the  "  Peaks  of  Otter," 
in  the  Blue  Kidge. 

It  was  in  one  of  these  revivals  that  Dr.  Archibald 
Alexander  was  converted.  He  says  of  himself  at  the 
age  of  seventeen :  "  My  only  notion  of  religion  was 
that  it  consisted  in  getting  better.  I  had  never 
heard  of  any  conversions  among  Presbyterians."  A 
pious  lady  in  a  family  where  he  was  employed  as  tu- 
tor, loved  the  writings  of  Flavel,  and  as  her  eyes 
were  weak,  often  sent  for  him  to  read  to  her.  This 
was  the  means  of  his  conversion.  Hearing  of  the 
great  revival  in  the  neighborhood  of  PriDce  Edward, 
he,  with  some  of  his  fellow  students,  went  to  the 
scene  of  religious  wonders,  attended  a  communion  sea- 
son, heard  Dr.  John  Blair  Smith  and  others  preach, 
saw  Wm.  Hill  and  others  of  the  recent  converts,  and 
on  their  return  "  a  revival  of  great  power  commenced 
which  extended  to  almost  every  Presbyterian  church 
in  the  Yalley  of  Virginia." 

The  work  in  Virginia  is  further  described  by  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Foote,  thus:  "In  the  latter  part  of  the 
year  1801,  the  churches  under  the  care  of  Messrs. 
Mitchel  and  Turner  were  greatly  revived.  A  m rat- 
ing held  at  the  close  of  the  year  was  noted  for  the 
number  of  people  impressed  with  a  deep  sense  of  the 
value  as  well  as  truth  of  the  gospel.  Many  made 
profession  of  their  faith.  In  the  succeeding  spring 
the  influence  of  Divine  truth  was  felt  with  increased 


REVIVAL    OF    1800.  81 

force.  The  Presbytery  of  Hanover  met  at  Bethel. 
Crowds  attended  upon  the  ministrations  of  the  gos- 
pel. About  one  hundred  had  now  professed  conver- 
sion. The  congregations  in  Albemarle,  in  Prince 
Edward  and  Charlotte,  were  greatly  awakened,  and 
the  happy  influence  was  felt  over  a  large  region  of 
country  east  of  the  Blue  Eidge. 

The  revivals  at  this  period  in  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee were  of  the  most  extraordinary  character. 
Probably  in  no  part  of  the  country  were  there  more 
marked  displays  of  Divine  grace,  neither  in  any  oth_ 
er  place  was  there  so  large  an  admixture  of  human 
passions  followed  by  so  many  deleterious  effects.  In 
1801  there  was  an  immense  gathering  at  Cave  Ridge, 
Kentucky,  to  which  people  had  come  from  all  parts  of 
the  state,  even  a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles.  An 
eye  witness,  describing  it,  says:  "  "We  arrived  upon 
the  ground,  and  here  a  scene  presented  itself  to  my 
mind  not  only  novel,  but  awful,  and  unaccountable 
beyond  description.  A  vast  crowd,  supposed  by  some 
to  have  amounted  to  twenty -five  thousand,  was  collect- 
ed together.  The  noise  was  like  the  roar  of  Niagara. 
The  vast  sea  of  human  beings  seemed  to  be  agitated 
by  a  storm..  I  counted  seven  preachers  all  speaking 
at  once,  some  on  stumps,  and  some  on  wagons."  An- 
other says:  "The  shouting,  shrieking,  praying  and 
nervous  spasms  of  this  vast  multitude  produced  an 
unearthly  and  almost  terrible  spectacle.  The  relig- 
ious exercises  on  the  ground  were  continued  from 
Friday  morning  until  the  ensuing  Wednesday  even- 
ing, day  and  night  without  intermission.  Heavy 
rains  fell  during  that  time  apparently  without  being 


82  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

noticed  by  the  people,  though  few  were  protected  by 
any  covering."  It  was  in  this  tempest  of  religious 
emotions  that  Campbellism  had  its  rise,and  it  was  here 
also  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church  dates  its 
origin. 

The  work  in  Tennessee,  probably  somewhat  soberer 
in  its  character  and  attended  by  fewer  physical  mani- 
festations, was  equally  deep  and  pervasive.  The 
Rev.  James  McGready  gives  the  following  account  of 
some  meetings  in  that  state:  "The  present  summer 
(viz.  1800)  has  been  the  most  glorious  time  that  our 
guilty  eyes  have  ever  beheld.  All  the  blessed  dis- 
plays of  Almighty  power  and  grace,  all  the  sweet 
gales  of  the  Divine  Spirit  and  soul-reviving  showers 
of  the  blessings  of  heaven,  which  we  enjoyed  before, 
and  which  we  considered  wonderful  beyond  concep- 
tion, were  but  like  a  few  scattering  drops  before  the 
mighty  rain  which  Jehovah  has  poured  out  like  a 
mighty  river  upon  this,  our  guilty,  unworthy  country. 
The  Lord  has  indeed  showed  himself  a  prayer-hearing 
God;  he  has  given  his  people  a  praying  spirit  and  a 
lively  faith,  and  then  he  has  answered  their  prayers 
far  beyond  their  highest  expectations.  This  wilder- 
ness and  solitary  place  has  been  made  glad,  this 
dreary  desert  now  rejoices  and  blossoms  like  the  rose; 
yea,  it  blossoms  abundantly,  and  rejoices  even  with 
joy  and  singing. 

"  At  Gasper  river,  on  the  fourth  Sabbath  of  June, 
a  surprising  multitude  of  people  collected,  many 
from  a  very  great  distance,  even  from  the  distance  of 
thirty  to  sixty,  and  one  hundred  miles.  On  Friday 
and  Saturday  there  was  a  very  solemn  attention.    On 


REVIVAL    OF    1800.  83 

Saturday  evening,  after  the  congregation  was  dismiss- 
ed, as  a  few  serious,  exercised  Christians  were  sit- 
ting conversing  together,  and  appeared  to  be  more 
than  commonlv  en^a^ed,  the  flame  started  from  them 
and  overspread  the  whole  house  until  every  person  ap- 
peared less  or  more  engaged.  The  greater  part  of 
the  ministers  and  several  hundreds  of  the  people  re- 
mained at  the  meeting-house  all  night.  Through 
every  part  of  the  multitude  there  could  be  found 
some  awakened  souls  struggling  in  the  pangs  of  the 
new  birth,  ready  to  faint  and  die  for  Christ,  almost 
upon  the  brink  of  desperation.  Others  again  were 
just  lifted  from  the  horrible  pit,  and  beginning  to 
lisp  the  first  notes  of  the  new  song,  and  to  tell  the 
sweet  wonders  which  they  saw  in  Christ.  Ministers 
and  experienced  Christians  were  everywhere  engaged 
praying,  exhorting,  conversing  and  trying  to  lead  in- 
quiring souls  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  this  exercise 
the  night  was  spent  till  near  the  break  of  day.  The 
Sabbath  was  a  blessed  day  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 
The  groans  of  awakened  sinners  could  be  heard  all 
over  the  house  during  the  morning  sermon,  but  by 
no  means  so  as  to  disturb  the  assembly.  It  was  a 
comfortable  time  with  many  at  the  table.  Mr.  Mc- 
Gee  preached  in  the  evening  upon  the  account  of  Pe- 
ter's sinking  in  the  waves.  In  the  application  of  his 
sermon  the  power  of  God  seemed  to  shake  the  whole 
assembly.  Toward  the  close  of  the  sermon  the  cries 
of  the  distressed  arose  almost  as  loud  as  his  voice. 
After  the  congregation  was  dismissed  the  solemnity 
increased  till  the  greater  part  of  the  multitude  seem- 
ed engaged   in  the  most  solemn  manner.     No  person 


84  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

appeared  to  wish  to  go  home;  hunger  and  sleep 
seemed  to  affect  nobody.  Eternal  things  were  the 
vast  concern.  Here  awakening  and  converting  work 
was  to  be  found  in  every  part  of  the  multitude,  and 
even  some  things  strangely  and  wonderfully  new  to 
me.  Sober  professors,  who  had  been  communicants  for 
many  years,  now  lying  prostrate  on  the  ground,  crying 
out  in  such  language  as  this:  'I  have  been  a  sober  pro- 
fessor, I  have  been  a  communicant;  oh,  I  have  been  de- 
ceived, I  have  no  religion.'  The  greater  part  of  the 
multitude  continued  at  the  meeting-house  all  night." 
In  1801-2,  there  were  also  great  revivals  in  North 
and  South  Carolina.  Union  meetings  were  not  very 
common  at  that  time,  but  Dr.  Fur  man  gives  an  ac- 
count of  a  union  meeting  held  by  Baptists,  Presby- 
terians, Methodists  and  others,  at  Waxhaws,  about 
one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  miles  from  Charleston, 
at  which  three  or  four  thousand  people  were  present, 
and  about  twenty  ministers.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  great  audience  had  traveled  over  bad  roads,  sev- 
enty or  eighty  miles  from  different  parts  of  the  state 
to  attend  this  meeting.  On  their  return  home  they 
spread  the  fire,  and  extraordinary  religious  interest 
was  developed  in  many  places.  The  character  of  the 
revival  may  somewhat  be  judged  from  the  following 
description:  "By  the  latest  accounts  we  hear  that 
the  flame  has  reached  South  Carolina,  and  is  going 
on  with  rapid  progress.  I  would  just  mention  for 
the  comfort  of  God's  people  in  your  country,  that 
I  never  knew  a  revival  with  fewer  instances  of  decep- 
tions or  delusive  hopes.  It  is  truly  astonishing  to 
find  those  who  are   delivered   from    their  burden   of 


REVIVALS   OF    1800.  85 

guilt  and  distress  to  be  the  subjects  of  such  clear, 
rational,  scriptural  views  of  the  gospel  scheme  of  sal- 
vation, and  the  nature  of  Christ's  satisfaction  to  the 
law  and  justice,  and  his  willingness  to  save  guilty,  lost 
sinners.  It  is  a  common  case  for  illiterate  negroes 
and  little  children  of  five,  six,  seven  and  eight  years 
old,  when  they  get  their  first  comforts,  to  speak  of 
their  views  of  the  mediatorial  glories  of  Christ;  his  full- 
ness, suitableness  and  sufficiency  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most; their  views  of  the  holiness  of  God  and  the  purity 
of  the  divine  law,  and  such  like  subjects,  with  an  elo- 
quence and  pathos  that  wrould  not  disgrace  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel." 

The  Eev.  James  McG ready,  mentioned  above,  was 
an  instrument  in  God's  hand  for  wonderfully  extend- 
ing the  work  throughout  the  Southern  states.  A 
man  of  great  energy,  decision  of  character  and  zeal 
for  souls,  he  preached  with  a  courage  and  vehemence 
throughout  all  that  region  that  earned  for  him  the 
name  of  Boanerges.  His  ministry  was  especially 
blest  in  North  Carolina.  The  revival  became  gen- 
eral throughout  that  state.  Dr.  Foote,  in  his  "  Sketch- 
es of  North  Carolina,"  thus  describes  a  communion 
season  held  at  Cross  Roads,  Orange  county:  "No 
interest  had  attended  the  meetings  up  to  the  commun- 
ion season.  At  the  service  on  that  day  the  pas- 
tor arose  to  dismiss  the  people,  intending  first 
to  say  a  few  words  expressive  of  his  sorrow  that 
apparently  no  advance  had  been  made  in  bringing 
sinners  to  God.  Overwhelmed  with  his  sensations  of 
distress  that  God  had  imparted  no  blessings  to  his 
people,  he  stood  silent  a  few  moments  and  then    sat 


86  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING-. 

down.  A  solemn  stillness  pervaded  the  congregation. 
In  a  few  moments  he  rose  again ;  before  he  uttered  a 
word,  a  young  man  from  Tennessee,  who  had  been  in- 
terested in  the  revival  there,  and  had  been  telling  the 
people  of  Cross  Roads  during  the  meeting  much  about 
the  state  of  things  in  the  West,  raised  his  hands  and 
cried  out,  '  Stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God!' 
In  a  few  moments  the  silence  was  broken  by  sobs, 
groans  and  cries,  rising  commingled  from  all  parts  of 
the  house.  All  thoughts  of  dismissing  the  congrega- 
tion at  once  vanished.  The  remainder  of  the  day  was 
spent  in  the  exercises  of  prayer,  exhortation,  singing 
and  personal  conversation,  and  midnight  came  before 
the  congregation  could  be  persuaded  to  go  to  "their 
respective  homes.  The  excitement  continued  for  a 
length  of  time,  and  many  were  hopefully  converted  to 
God.  No  irregularities  appeared  in  this  commence- 
ment of  the  great  excitement  in  North  Carolina;  the 
sobs  and  groans  and  cries  for  mercy  were  unusual,  but 
seemed  justified  by  the  deep  feeling  of  individuals  on 
account  of  the  great  interests  concerned." 

In  no  part  of  the  country,  however,  was  the  re- 
vival more  marked  with  best  features  and  productive 
of  permanent  results  than  in  Western  Pennsylvania 
and  Eastern  Ohio.  The  people  of  that  region  were,  as 
Dr.  Gillett  observes,  "  by  no  means  the  miscellane- 
ous driftwood  which  emigration  usually  floats  oif  from 
older  communities  to  new  settlements.  Among  them 
were  men  of  culture,  and  a  large  proportion  of  them 
were  characterized  by  stern  religious  principle.  They 
were  men  whose  energy  and  vigor  were  developed  by 
the  circumstances  of  their  lot,  and  who,  in  grappling 


REVIVALS   OF    1800.  87 

with  the  forest  and  repelling  or  guarding  against  sav- 
age attacks,  were  made  more  sagacious,  fearless  and 
self-reliant." 

The  beginnings  of  grace  among  the  people  were  thus 
recorded  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Stevenson,  of  Ohio:  "  It 
may  almost  be  said  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Western  Pennsylvania  was  born  in  a  revival.  In 
1778  Vance's  Port,  into  which  the  families  living  ad- 
jacent had  been  driven  by  the  Indians,  was  the  scene 
of  a  remarkable  work.  There  was  but  one  pious  man 
in  the  fort,  Joseph  Patterson,  a  layman,  an  earnest 
and  devoted  Christian,  whose  zeal  had  not  waned,  even 
amid  the  storm  and  terrors  of  war;  and  during  the 
long  days  and  nights  of  their  besiegement  he  talked 
with  his  careless  associates  of  an  enemy  more  to  be 
dreaded  than  the  Indian,  and  a  death  more  terrible 
than  by  the  scalping-knife.  As  they  were  shut  up 
within  very  narrow  limits,  his  voice,  though  directed 
to  one  or  two,  could  easily  be  heard  by  the  whole 
company  and  thus  his  personal  exhortations  became 
public  addresses.  Deep  seriousness  filled  every 
breast,  and  some  twenty  persons  were  there  led  to 
Christ.  These  were  a  short  time  subsequently  formed 
into  the  Cross  Creek  Church,  which  built  its  house 
of  worship  near  the  fort,  and  had  as  its  pastor  for 
thirty-three  years  one  of  these  converts,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Marquis. 

"  From  1781  to  1787  a  more  extensive  work  of 
grace  was  experienced  in  the  churches  of  Cross  Creek, 
Upper  Buffalo,  Chartiers,  Pigeon  Creek,  Bethel,  Leb- 
anon, Ten  Mile,  Cross  Roads  and  Mill  Creek,  during 
which  more  than  a  thousand  persons   were  brought 


88  TIMES   OF  REFRESHING. 

into  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Considering  the  unset- 
tled state  of  the  public  mind  at  the  close  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary war,  the  constant  anxiety  and  watchfulness 
against  the  incursions  of  hostile  Indians,  the  toils  and 
hardships  incident  to  new  settlements,  and  the  scarci- 
ty of  ministers,  this  was  a  signal  work  of  the  Spirit, 
greatly  strengthening  the  feeble  churches." 

The  revival  in  some  of  these  congregations  con- 
tinued almost  without  perceptible  diminution  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  was  everywhere  marked  by  the 
same  characteristics  of  a  most  thoi\u0di  and  genuine 
work  of  grace.  Everywhere  there  was  a  deep  sense 
of  sin  and  its  awful  penalty,  an  humbling  sense  of 
the  hardness  of  the  heart  and  the  blindness  of  the 
mind,  an  apprehension  of  the  plan  of  salvation 
through  the  obedience,  sufferings  and  death  of  the 
Savior,  a  cordial  acceptance  of  Him  as  the  sinner's 
only  hope,  and  abiding  peace  and  consolation  as  the 
result.  Mr.  Stevenson  speaks  of  it  as  a  work  that 
was  generally  carried  on  in  more  ordinary  and  mod- 
erate manner  than  that  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

Although  convictions  were  deep  and  pungent,  the 
sense  of  sin,  guilt  and  danger  very  affecting,  and  the 
apprehensions  of  divine  wrath  distressing,  yet  in 
but  few  instances  were  they  attended  with  any  ex- 
traordinary bodily  affections.  The  work  was 
also  remarkably  free  from  enthusiasm,  wild  imagin- 
ations, and  disorderly,  hurtful  irregularities.  Al- 
though there  were  some  instances  of  apostasy, 
yet  it  must  be  remarked,  to  the  praise  of  free  grace, 
that  these  were  but  few  amongst  those  respect- 
ing whom  their  pious  friends  and  the  officers  of  the 


REVIVAL    OF    1800.  89 

Church  entertained  a  favorable  opinion  that  they 
had  been  the  subjects  of  saving  grace,  and  who  were 
admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  Church. 

This  work  extended  throughout  western  Pennsyl- 
vania and  eastern  Ohio,  continued  for  several  years, 
and  has  now  for  more  than  seventy  years  borne  the 
precious  fruit  of  a  genuine  revival  of  religion.  Upon 
all  that  region  it  has  set  a  stamp  of  intelligent  piety 
and  Christian  activity.  Some  of  the  special  services 
held  during  that  time  have  probably  never  been  sur- 
passed in  the  history  of  this  country.  Services  were 
continued  not  only  through  th  e  whole  of  successive 
days,  but  sometimes  through  the  intervening  nights  as 
well . 

There  was  very  little  of  outward  agitation,  but  a 
solemnity  so  silent  and  deep  as  to  be  overwhelming 
and  awful  in  its  character. 

The  effect  of  these  revivals  was  felt  not  only  in  the 
states  that  were  moved  by  them,  but  even  to  this  day 
they  are  thrilling  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  for 
this  was  the  beginning  of  modern  missions.  Up  to 
this  time  there  was  no  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety, and  no  Bible,  Tract  or  educational  organiza- 
tions. The  Church  was  purely  on  the  defensive,  and 
very  feebly  at  that. 

In  this  revival  Newell,  Judson,  Rice,  Knott,  Mills 
and  other  foreign  missionaries  were  converted.  The 
American  Board  was  organized  in  1810  to  support  the 
first  band  of  foreign  missionaries  that  went  out  from 
this  country  to  India.  About  the  same  time  the 
Baptist  foreign  board  was  organized  at  the  call  of 
Judson  from  far-off  Burmah.     A  new  life  had  taken 


90  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

possession  of  the  whole  Christian  world.  The  Savior's 
commission  was  again  heard  ringing  in  the  ears  of 
his  disciples.  The  Church  shook  herself  from  her 
slumber  of  many  years  and  went  forth  to  her  con- 
quest of  the  world.  If  to-day  we  look  hopefully  to 
the  future,  if  a  dash  of  the  sunrise  that  came  over  the 
Alleghanies  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  begins  to 
tip  the  Rocky  and  Sierras  Ranges,  to  light  np  the 
Himalayas,  and  to  fall  with  a  prophesy  of  Christian 
life  on  China  and  Japan,  let  us  remember  the  world's 
debt  to  the  revival  of  1800, — which  is  only  to  say,  let 
us  remember  when  God  would  open  a  new  era  that 
would  girdle  the  world  with  its  glory,  He  does  it  by 
pouring  out  his  Spirit  upon  towns,  villages  and 
hamlets,  so  giving  new  energy  and  efficacy  to  that 
truth  which,  with  feet  as  fair  and  swift  as  the  morn- 
ing, shall  run  around  the  world. 

Who  knows  but  the  century  which  began  with  a 
Pentecost  may  end  with  the  dawn  of  the  Millennium? 

Looking  back  upon  the  leading  features  of  this  re- 
vival, they  may,  perhaps,  be  described  in  the  follow- 
ing general  terms: — a  sense  of  unfaithfulness  on  the 
part  of  Christians,  penitence  and  confession  of  their 
sins  to  one  another  and  to  the  Lord,  an  affecting  view 
of  the  love  of  God  in  the  gift  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
salvation  of  the  world,  a  new  and  enlarged  sense  of 
the  value  of  immortal  souls  around  them,  and  of  their 
certain  destruction  out  of  Christ,  and  then  earnest, 
believing,  and  importunate  prayer  for  the  sanctification 
of  God's  people  and  the  salvation  of  sinners.  As  in 
1740,  so  now,  there  was  little  of  method  or  plan. 
The  aggressive  idea  of  winning  the  whole  world  to 


REVIVAL    OF    1800.  91 

Christ  was  but  just  dawning  and  had  not  taken  full 
possession  of  the  Church.  Of  a  religious  campaign 
in  the  modern  sense  of  that  word,  nothing  was  known. 
The  overwhelming  ideas  that  stood  over  all  their 
work,  gave  it  their  impress  of  solemnity  and  power, 
were  the  holiness  of  God,  and  the  sinfulness  and  con- 
sequent peril  of  men.  Under  these  ideas  they  wept 
over  their  sins  and  besought  men  to  be  reconciled  to 
Christ.  These  ideas  never  more  profoundly  moved 
the  Church  than  they  did  then,  but  the  application 
of  them  to  human  necessities  in  all  their  fullness  and 
breadth  was,  in  the  development  of  God's  plan,  re- 
served to  a  later  age. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

REV.  ASAHEL  NETTLETON  AND  HIS  EVANGELICAL 
WORK. 

In  the  middle  portion  of  what  is  regarded  by  some 
writers  as  the  most  remarkable  age  of  revivals  in  the 
history  of  the  American  Church,  there  appeared  up- 
on the  stage,  following  each  other  in  quick  succession, 
three  men,  wonderfully  endowed  of  God  and  wonder- 
fully successful  in  their  evangelical  labor.  These 
were  Asahel  Kettleton  of  New  England,  Daniel  Ba- 
ker of  the  Southern  States,  and  Charles  G.  Finney  of 
New  York  and  Ohio.  They  were,  for  a  considerable 
portion  of  their  lives,  cotemporaries,  and  yet  their  en- 
trance upon  the  field  of  labor,  as  well  as  the  chief 
work  accomplished  by  each,  was  not  synchronous,  but 
following  one  the  other,  in  the  order  in  which  their 
names  have  just  been  mentioned. 

It  is  proposed  in  this  chapter  to  give  some  account 
of  the  first  of  the  three,  Eev.  Asahel  Nettleton.  He 
was  himself  a  child  of  the  great  revival  epoch  just 
referred  to,  and  from  his  early  manhood,  no  one  con- 
tributed more  to  its  distinctive  character  and  success. 
He  had  the  distinction  of  being  a  sort  of  pioneer  in 
the  revival  work,  and  in  the  end,  he  became  as  true  a 

92 


NETTLETON   AND    HIS    WORK.  93 

representative  and  exemplar  of  what  are  called  Amer- 
can  revivals,  as  any  man  who  has  ever  preached 
amongst  us.  He  seemed  to  possess  a  double  portion 
of  the  evangelical  spirit,  and  to  combine,  in  his  own 
character,  all  the  highest  and  best  gifts  that  fit  a  man 
for  such  work. 

The  epoch  of  revival  in  which  these  men  of  God 
successively  commenced  their  ministry,  had  its  begin- 
ning about  the  opening  of  the  present  century.  It 
is  sometimes  called  the  Great  Revival  of  1800.  But 
it  is  more  appropriately  styled  the  Revival  of  Devel- 
opment and  Organization.  It  would  be  a  great  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  its  chief  or  only  work  was  accom- 
plished by  the  evangelists  just  named  and  others  of 
the  same  order.  They  indeed  acted  an  important, 
and,  it  may  be,  indispensable  part,  in  their  burning 
zeal,  and  by  their  itinerant  labors.  But  in  all  parts 
of  the  land,  especially  in  the  New  England  States,  in 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Virginia,  the 
Carol i nas,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Ohio,  the  revi- 
val spirit  took  possession  both  of  pastors  and  church- 
es. Scores  and  hundreds  of  pastors  had  their  own 
faithful  labors  sealed  with  the  Divine  blessing,  in 
great  and  often  repeated  revivals;  while  most  of  the 
Colleges  and  Seminaries  were  visited  in  like  manner. 

Among  the  Colleges  visited  with  seasons  of  refresh- 
ing and  ingathering  during  all  this  period,  may  be 
mentioned,  Yale,  under  the  presidencies  of  Drs. 
Dwight,  and  Day,  Princeton,  under  Dr.  Ashbel  Green, 
Dartmouth,  under  Dr.  Lord,  and  Amherst,  under  Dr. 
Humphrey.  As  an  illustration  of  leading  pastors,  in 
widely  separated  parts  of  the  Church,  whose  charges 


94  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

witnessed  continual  outpourings  of  the  Spirit,  in 
what  might  be  called  an  unbroken  series  of  revivals, 
may  be  named,  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring  of  New  York, 
Dr.  Heman  Humphrey  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  Dr.  Ly- 
man Beecher  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  and  afterwards  of 
East  Hampton,  L.  I.,  Dr.  John  McDowell  of  Eliza- 
beth, N.  J.,  and  afterwards  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  James 
Patterson  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  David  McGee  of  Eliz- 
abeth, N.  J.,  Drs.  Christmas  and  Baldwin  of  New 
York,  Dr.  Ichabod  Spencer  of  Brooklyn,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Nevins  of  Baltimore,  Dr.  Edward  Pay  son  of 
Portland,  Me.,  Dr.  Alvan  Hyde  of  Lee,  Mass.,  Dr. 
Edward  G.  Griffin  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  Drs.  Benjamin 
H.  Rice,  and  George  A.  Baxter  of  Virginia,  and 
many  others  too  numerous  to  mention.  This  revival 
did  not  soon  exhaust  its  force  and  pass  away,  as  did 
the  Great  Awakening  of  the  preceding  century,  in  the 
times  of  Whitefield,  Edwards  and  the  Tennents.  But 
it  spread  its  blessed  influences  over  the  whole  first 
quarter  of  the  century,  or  more  properly  dating  from 
its  earliest  beginnings  in  1790,  it  covered  the  whole 
period  of  half  a  century.  During  its  continuance, 
and  under  its  blessed  influences,  were  inaugurated 
nearly  all  the  great  benevolent  associations,  and  all 
the  evangelical,  missionary  and  educational  Boards 
and  agencies  of  the  Church.  Thus  originated  in  rap- 
id succession,  the  Bible,  Tract,  Sunday  School,  Tem- 
perance, Educational,  Foreign  and  Home  Missionary 
Societies,  and  our  Theological  Seminaries,  with  other 
kindred  institutions  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and 
conversion  of  the  world. 

Says  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring,  who  was  himself  one  of 


NETTLETON   AND    HIS   WORK.  95 

the  early  converts  of  this  great  movement,  and  lived 
to  witness  all  its  triumphs:  "From  the  year  1800 
down  to  the  year  1825,  there  was  an  uninterrupted 
series  of  these  celestial  visitations  spreading  over  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  land.  During  the  whole  of  these 
twenty-five  years  there  was  not  a  month  in  which  we 
could  not  point  to  some  village,  some  city,  some  sem- 
inary of  learning,  and  say,  'Behold  what  God  hath 
wrought!'  "  At  a  later  period  of  his  ministry,  the 
same  venerable  writer,  taking  a  wider  survey,  says: 
"The  period,  commencing  with  the  year  1792,  and 
terminating  with  1812,  was  a  memorable  period  in  the 
history  of  the  American  Church.  Scarcely  any  por- 
tion of  it  but  was  graciously  visited  by  copious  effu- 
sions of  the  Holy  Spirit.  From  north  to  south,  and 
from  east  to  west,  our  male,  and  more  especially  our 
female  academies,  our  colleges,  and  our  churches 
drank  largely  of  this  fountain  of  living  waters.  It 
was  my  privilege  to  enter  upon  the  course  of  academ- 
ical life  not  far  from  the  meridian  of  this  bright  day. 
There  were  no  subjects  that  interested  my  mind  more 
deeply,  when  I  began  my  ministry  among  this  peo- 
ple, than  those  revivals  of  religion  which  passed  over 
the  land  of  my  boyhood." 

We  have  a  similar  testimony  from  Dr.  Humphrey, 
President  of  Amherst  College,  in  his  "Revival 
Sketches."  "  In  looking  back  fifty  years  and  more, 
the  great  revival  of  that  period  strikes  me,  in  its 
thoroughness,  in  its  depth,  in  its  freedom  from  ani- 
mal, unhealthy  excitement,  and  its  far-reaching  influ- 
ence on  subsequent  revivals,  as  having  been  decidedly 
in  advance  of  any  that  had  preceded  it.     It  was  the 


96  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

opening  of  a  new  revival  epoch  which  has  lasted  now 
more  than  half  a  century,  with  but  short  and  partial 
interruptions— and  blessed  be  God,  the  end  is  not 
yet." 

During  the  entire  period  covered  by  the  successive 
ministry  ofDrs.  Nettleton,  Baker  and  Finney,  and  in 
fact  for  more  than  ten  years  before  Dr.  Nettleton  be- 
gan his  public  labors,  the  Spirit  of  God  was  present 
in  the  churches  and  wrought  mightily  in  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners.     Not  alone  under  the  direct  agency 
of  these  itinerating  evangelists  did   the   great  move- 
ment go  on.     While  they  were  working,  all  good  pas- 
tors were  everywhere  at  work  with  revived  zeal  and  a 
fresh  baptism  of  the  Spirit.     God  himself  was  present 
in   the    churches.     In    whole    regions    of    country, 
and   in   multitudes  of  churches,   not  visited   by  the 
evangelists,  there  were  great  and  precious  revivals. 
This  was  specially  the  case  in  New  Jersey,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, in  Kentucky,  in  Virginia  and  New  England. 
Says  Dr.  Humphrey,  speaking  of  the  twenty  years 
when  Dr.  Nettle  ton  was  in  active  service  on  the  field, 
"Hundreds  and  thousands  of  churches  connected  with 
the  various  evangelical  denominations  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  were  visited  and  blessed  by  the  gracious 
outpourings  of  the  Spirit,  notice  of  which  constantly 
appeared  in  weekly  and  other  periodicals  of  the  time." 
And  it  was  well  for  the  Church  and  for  the  Nation 
that  it  was  so.     For  this  was  the  very  hour  when  our 
young,  growing  country,  spreading  its  population  in 
all   directions,    most  needed  God's  presence.     This 
was  the  very  hour  when  our  whole  American  Church, 
passing  through   her  formative  and  organizing  state, 


NETTLETON    AND   HIS    WORK.  97 

most  needed  the  saving,    plastic   influences    of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  upon  her  people  and  her  institutions. 

Asahel  Nettleton,  who  was  honored  of  God  to  per- 
form  so  important  a  part  in  this  great  revival  era, 
was  born  in  North  Killingworth,  Connecticut,  on  the 
21st  of  April,  17S3.  In  the  eighteenth  year  of 
his  age  he  was  converted  to  God  in  a  season  of  revival 
in  the  Church  where  he  resided.  It  had  been  his 
expectation  to  spend  his  days  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
as  he  had  been  reared  on  a  farm.  He  was  the  oldest 
sun  of  a  family  of  six,  and  his  father  dying  in  1801, 
the  care  of  the  family  and  the  management  of  the 
farm  seemed  to  devolve  on  him.  But  God  designed 
him  for  a  different  course  of  life.  AVhile  laboring  in 
the  field  he  would  often  say  to  himself:  If  I  might 
be  the  means  of  saving  one  soul,  I  should  prefer  it"  to 
all  the  riches  and  honors  of  this  world.  He  would 
frequently  look  forward  to  eternity,  and  put  to  him- 
self the  question:  What  shall  I  wish  I  had  done 
thousands  and  millions  of  years  hence?  Reading  the 
missionary  magazines  of  the  period,  a  strong  desire 
was  awakened  in  his  breast  to  become  a  missionary  to 
the  heathen,  and  he  decided  to  devote  his  life  to  the 
missionary  service  if  God,  in  his  providence,  should 
prepare  the  way.  This  was  at  a  time  when  no  foreign 
missionaries  had  yet  gone  from  our  land.  Born  on 
the  same  day  with  Samuel  J.  Mills,  the  pioneer  of  our 
American  Missionary  Boards,  young  Xettleton  shared 
fully  in  the  feeling  expressed  by  the  former:  "That 
lie  could  not  conceive  of  any  course  of  life  in  which  to 
pass  the  rest  of  his  days,  that  would  prove  so  pleas- 
ant, as  to  go  and  communicate  the  gospel  salvation  to 
the  poor  heathen." 


98  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

As  there  were  no  education  societies  in  the  land  in 
his  time,  and  his  means  were  limited,  he  had  much 
difficulty  in  obtaining  a  collegiate  education.  So 
strong,  however,  was  his  desire  to  become  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  and  a  missionary  to  the  heathen,  that  he 
resolved  to  make  the  attempt,  even  while  laboring  on 
the  farm  and  devoting  his  leisure  moments  to  study. 
After  much  difficulty  and  some  delay,  he  succeeded  in 
entering  Yale  College  in  1805,  and  graduated  after  a 
four  years'  course  of  study.  He  was  licensed  to 
preach  the  gospel  in  1811,  and  was  ordained  as  an 
evangelist  in  the  summer  of  1817  by  the  South  Con- 
sociation of  Litchfield. 

After  receiving  license  to  preach,  Mr.  Nettleton  re- 
fused to  consider  himself  a  candidate  for  settlement 
as  pastor,  because  he  intended  and  expected  to  engage 
in  the  missionary  service  as  soon  as  the  providence  of 
God  should  prepare  the  way.  He  chose  therefore 
to  commence  his  labors  in  waste  places,  and  in  some 
of  the  most  desolate  places  of  the  Lord's  vineyard.  He 
accordingly  went  to  the  eastern  part  of  Connecticut 
on  the  borders  of  Rhode  Island,  and  preached  for  a 
few  months  in  a  region  entirely  destitute  of  settled 
pastors.  But  he  was  never  permitted  to  go  to  the 
heathen.  The  reasons  why  he  did  not  go  are  thus 
stated  in  his  Memoir  by  Dr.  Tyler:  Soon  after  he 
began  to  preach,  his  labors  were  crowned  with  signal 
success.  "Wherever  he  went,  the  Spirit  of  God  seemed 
to  accompany  his  preaching.  His  brethren  in  the  min- 
istry, witnessing  the  success  of  his  labors,  were  of 
opinion  that  he  ought,  at  least,  to  delay  the  execution 
of  his  purpose  to  leave  the  country.     In  deference  to 


NETTLETON   AND    HIS   WORK.  99 

their  opinion,  he  consented  to  delay;  and  as  his  labors 
became  increasingly  successful,  his  brethren  were 
more  and  more  convinced  that  God  had  called  him  to 
labor  as  an  evangelist  at  home.  Still,  he  never  en- 
tirely abandoned  the  idea  of  a  foreign  mission,  until 
his  health  failed  in  1822." 

In  the  year  1812  Mr.  Nettleton  went  to  South 
Britain,  Conn.,  and  then  to  South  Salem,  JR.  Y.  He 
preached  a  week  in  one  of  these  places  and  two  months 
in  the  other  with  great  solemnity,  and  with  the  mani- 
fest blessing  of  God  on  his  labors.  From  that  time 
onward  through  the  next  ten  years  it  was  his  happy 
Jot  to  be  employed  almost  constantly  in  revivals  of 
religion.  These  two  meetings  formed  but  the  be- 
ginning of  a  series  of  the  most  wonderful  outpourings 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the 
Church.  His  biographer,  Dr.  Tyler,  heard  him  for 
the  first  time  on  one  of  these  occasions,  and  thus  de- 
scribes his  manner:  "  It  was  in  a  school-house,  crowd- 
ed with  people,  not  a  few  of  whom  were  under  deep 
conviction  of  sin.  As  he  arose,  being  an  entire 
stranger,  every  eye  was  fixed  upon  him.  and  a  breath- 
less silence  pervaded  the  assembly.  "With  great  so- 
lemnity he  looked  upon  the  congregation,  and  thus 
be£:an:  'What  is  that  murmur  which  I  hear? — I 
wish  I  had  a  new  heart.  What  shall  I  do? — The}-  tell 
me  to  repent — I  can't  repent — I  wish  they  would  give 
me  some  other  direction.'  He  thus  went  on  for  a 
short  time,  personating  the  awakened  sinner,  and 
bringing  out  the  feelings  of  his  heart.  He  then 
changed  the  form  of  his  address,  and  in  a  solemn  and 
affectionate  manner,  appealed  to    the   consciences   of 


100  TIMES  OF    KEFRESHING. 

his  hearers,  and  showed  them  that  they  must  repent 
or  perish,  that  it  was  their  reasonable  duty  to  repent 
immediately,  and  that  ministers  could  not  direct 
them  to  anything  short  of  repentance,  without  being 
unfaithful  to  their  souls.  The  address  produced  a 
thrilling  effect,  and  served  greatly  to  deepen  the  con- 
victions of  those  who  were  anxious." 

During  this  decade,  from  1812  to  1822,  his  services 
were  in  great  demand  among  the  Churches,  he  was 
constantly  acting  as  an  evangelist,  and  wherever  he 
went,  a  remarkable  blessing  attended  his  labors.  It 
is  impossible  in  our  brief  limits,  to  give  an  account  of 
the  wonderful  results  accomplished  in  these  meetings, 
or  even  to  enumerate  the  places  in  which  he  labored. 
Within  the  period  just  mentioned  he  was  engaged  in 
connection  with  more  or  less  extensive  revivals  in 
from  sixty  to  one  hundred  towns  and  parishes  all 
over  Connecticut,  and  in  the  adjacent  parts  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  York.  In  most  of  these  places 
there  were  scores,  and  in  some  of  them  hundreds,  add- 
ed to  the  Church  through  his  instrumentality. 

The  amount  of  labor  which  Mr.  Nettleton  perform- 
ed during  this  period  would  seem  almost  incredible 
when  it  is  remembered  that  he  never  possessed  much 
vigor  of  constitution.  During  this  time  he  preached 
generally  three  sermons  on  the  Sabbath  and  several 
during  the  week,  besides  spending  much  time  in 
visiting  from  house  to  house  and  conversing  with  in- 
dividuals on  the  concerns  of  their  souls.  How  he 
could  endure  such  accumulated  labors  was  a  mystery 
to  many.  But  at  length,  in  the  autumn  of  1822,  lie 
was  brought  so  low  by  a  violent  attack  of  typhus    fe- 


NETTLETON    AND    HIS   WORK.  101 

ver,  that  neither  he  nor  his  friends  had,  for  some  time, 
any  expectation  of  his  recovery. 

Dr.  Sprague,  in  the  Annals  of  the  American  Pul- 
pit, thus  speaks  of  his  career  at  this  early  period  of 
his  ministry:  "From  the  commencement  of  his 
course  as  a  preacher,  he  evinced  a  remarkable  power 
over  the  conscience,  and  it  was  quickly  apparent  that 
his  ministrations  were  destined  to  produce  no  ordina- 
ry effect  upon  the  public  mind.  The  world  did  not 
indeed  crowd  after  him  as  an  eloquent  man;  but  mul- 
titudes went  to  hear  him,  because  they  could  not  stay 
away.  There  was  in  all  that  he  said  a  directness 
and  pungency,  which  it  was  not  easy  to  resist,  and 
wherever  he  went,  a  rich  blessing  seemed  to  hang  up- 
on his  footsteps.  In  these  circumstances,  he  was  ear- 
nestly solicited  by  many  of  his  brethren  to  abandon 
the  idea  of  a  foreign  mission,  which  had  been  with 
him  the  cherished  idea  of  many  years,  and  devote 
himself  to  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  in  his  own  coun- 
try. He,  however,  consented  only  to  postpone  the 
carrying  into  effect  of  his  purpose  to  be  a  missionary, 
and  he  never  relinquished  it  till  the  failure  of  his 
health  in  1822  obliged  him  to  do  so." 

There  is  no  way  by  which  we  can  give  the  reader  a 
better  idea  of  the  character  and  extent  of  Mr.  Nettle- 
ton's  labors  at  this  time,  than  by  presenting  a  brief 
summary  of  his  meetings  during  the  last  few  years  of 
this  period,  taken  partly  from  Dr.  Humphrey's  Eevi- 
val  Sketches,and  partly  from  his  Memoir.  Exhausted 
by  his  incessant  work  in  Connecticut,  he  went  to 
Saratoga  Springs,  K  Y.,  in  the  summer  of  1819,  not 
for  the  purpose   of  preaching,  but    simply   for   rest. 


102  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

But  his  services  were  soon  in  demand,  and  he  com- 
menced preaching  in  the  neighborhood.  The  result 
is  thus  stated:  "This  year,  1819,  was  a  remarkable 
year  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High  in  the  county 
of  Saratoga,New  York.  The  work  commenced  in  the 
summer,  at  Saratoga  Springs,  and  about  forty  made 
a  profession  of  religion,  including  some  of  the  most 
prominent  persons  in  the  village.  About  the  same 
time,  there  was  a  remarkable  revival  in  Stillwater. 
In  February  a  hundred  and  three  were  added  to  the 
church,  and  about  a  hundred  more  were  rejoicing  in. 
hope,  expecting  soon  to  be  received.  In  Ballstoii,  too, 
the  work  was  very  powerful,  and  at  two  communion- 
seasons  a  hundred  and  eighteen  were  added  to  the 
church,  while  the  work  was  still  increasing.  In  the 
adjoining  town  of  Milton  the  work  was  overwhelming. 
In  less  than  two  months,  more  than  a  hundred  and 
fifty  were  brought  to  rejoice  in  hope.  In  Amsterdam 
there  were   about  fifty  hopeful  conversions." 

Dr.  Tyler,  his  biographer,  says:  "This  revival, 
which  commenced  at  Saratoga  Springs,  and  spread 
into  the  surrounding  region,  resulted  in  the  hopeful 
conversion  of  not  less  than  two  thousand  souls."  Mr. 
Nettleton  himself,  writiug  from  Union  College  in 
April,  1820,  writes:  "  I  have  no  time  to  relate  inter- 
esting particulars.  I  only  add  that  some  of  the  most 
stout-hearted  and  heaven-daring  rebels  have  been  in 
the  most  awful  distress,  and  within  a  circle  whose  di- 
ameter is  about  twenty-fuiir  miles,  not  less  than  eight 
hundred  souls  have  been  hopefully  born  into  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  since  last  September.  In  Malta 
there  were  such  displays  of  the  power  of  God's  Spirit 


NETTLETON   AND   HIS   W0EK.  103 

in  crushing  the  opposition  of  the  natural  heart,  as 
are  very  seldom  seen.  The  Deist  and  Universalist, 
the  drunkard,  the  gambler  and  the  swearer,  were  alike 
made  the  objects  of  this  heart-breaking  work.  It  was 
a  place  of  great  spiritual  dearth,  and,  like  the  top  of 
Gilboa,  had  never  been  wet  by  rain  or  dew;  but  the 
Lord  now  converted  that  wilderness  into  a  fruitful 
field.  A  church  was  soon  organized  with  eighty -five 
members." 

In  the  month  of  April,  1820,  Mr.  Nettleton  commenc- 
ed his  labors  in  Nassau,  N.  Y.,  near  Albany,  where  he 
preached  until  the  last  of  June,  with  similar  results. 
More  than  a  hundred  had  become  subjects  of  Divine 
grace,  of  whom  five  young  men  prepared  for  the  gos- 
pel ministry.  Of  this  meeting  he  wrote  out  at  the 
time  a  full  account,  which  is  given  in  his  Memoir, 
and  this  is  the  only  one  of  his  revivals  of  which  he 
has  given  a  full  record.  In  the  same  year  was  a  pow- 
erful revival  in  New  Haven,  and  about  three  hun- 
dred were  added  to  the  churches.  It  extended  to  most 
of  the  neighboring  towns.  Out  of  thirty-one  con- 
gregations in  the  county  of  New  Haven,  at  least 
twenty-five  were  visited,  during  the  winter  and  spring, 
with  the  special  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  it  was 
estimated  that  within  those  limits  between  fifteen, 
hundred  and  two  thousand  souls  were  called  out  of 
nature's  darkness  into  marvelous  light.  In  North 
Killingworth  the  revival  was  very  powerful.  It  com- 
menced  about  the  last  of  August  in  a  Bible-class,  and 
rapidly  spread  over  the  town.  The  hopeful  converts 
were  a  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a  hundred  and  seven  of 
whom  united  with  the  church  at  the  communion-sea- 
son in  January,  and  soon  after  twenty-five  more. 


104  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

In  1822  and  1823  were  many  extensive  revivals  in 
the  eastern  part  of  Connecticut,  of  which  Mr.  Nettle  - 
ton  gives  the  following  summary  view:  u  Most  of 
these  churches  have,  in  years  past,  been  favored  with 
seasons  more  or  less  reviving,  but  never  with  such 
a  general  and  powerful  refreshing  from  the  presence 
of  God.  The  following  towns  have  shared  in  the 
work:  In  Somers  one  hundred  and  fifty  have  been 
made  the  subjects  of  divine  grace.  In  Tolland  one 
hundred  and  thirty.  In  South  Wilbraham  one  hun- 
dred. In  North  Coventry  one  hundred  and  twenty. 
In  South  Coventry,  North  and  South  Mansfield,  about 
one  hundred  in  each.  In  Columbia  forty.  In  Leba- 
non ninety.  In  Goshen  thirty.  In  Bozrah  seventy. 
In  Montville  ninety.     In  Chaplin  fifty. 

"  The  work  has  recently  commenced,  and  is  advanc- 
ing with  power  in  Hamj)ton,  and  within  a  few  weeks 
fifty  or  more  are  rejoicing  in  hope.  Also,  within  a 
few  weeks  past,  the  Spirit  of  God  has  descended  with 
overwhelming  power  in  Millington  and  Colchester. 
In  the  former  place  about  seventy,  and  in  the  latter 
sixty,  are  already  rejoicing  in  hope.  They  have  never 
witnessed  the  like  in  the  power  and  extent  of  the 
work.  In  the  above  cluster  of  towns,  all  contiguous, 
more  than  thirteen  hundred  souls  have  hopefully 
received  a  saving  change  since  the  work  began.  Of 
these,  more  than  eight  hundred  have  already  made  a 
profession  of  religion.  In  Chatham  also  the  work  is 
interesting,  and  about  seventy  are  rejoicing  in  hope. 
The  Lord  has  done  great  things  for  Zion,  whereof  we 
are  glad;  and  let  all  her  friends  humbly  rejoice,  and 
bow,  and  give  thanks,  and  exalt  his  name  together." 


NETTLETON    AND    HIS    WORK.  105 

For  the  next  two  years  Dr.  Nettleton  was  laid  aside 
from  all  public  service.  He  had  been  brought  so  near 
to  death,  and  recovered  so  slowly  from  his  prostration, 
that  he  did  not  attempt  to  preach  till  the  close  of 
1824,  and  then  very  seldom.  Indeed,  he  never  after- 
wards fully  regained  his  health.  But,  beginning  spar- 
ingly at  first,  he  was  after  a  few  years  engaged  again 
in  evangelical  meetings  in  many  places,  through  Con- 
necticut, Massachusetts  and  New  York,  and  with  the 
same  manifestations  of  the  Divine  blessing  which  had 
attended  his  earlier  ministry.  Some  of  his  most  rem  ark- 
able  revivals  took  place  during  this  period,  as  those 
at  Taunton,  at  Brooklyn  and  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  at 
Durham  and  at  Albany,  "N.  Y.,  where  he  preached 
feeling  that  he  was  a  dying  man.  Even  in  the  Cats- 
kill  mountains  to  which  he  had  retired  for  the  sake  of 
health,  he  was  constrained  to  hold  services,  and  many 
were  converted.  While  at  this  place,  in  a  letter  to  a 
theological  student,  he  gave  this  striking  counsel: 
"Every  itinerant  preacher,  especially  if  he  has  been 
engaged  in  a  revival  of  religion,  must  feel  the  need  of 
this  last  direction,  'Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a 
desert  place,  and  rest  awhile;'  or  suffer  greatly  if  he 
long  neglect  it.  I  could  not  advise  any  one  to  be  em- 
ployed in  a  powerful  revival  more  than  three  months, 
without  retiring  into  solitude  for  a  short  time,  to  re- 
view the  past,  and  to  attend  to  his  own  heart,  He 
will  find  much  to  lament,  and  much  to  correct;  and  it 
is  by  deep  and  solemn  reflection  upon  the  past,  and 
by  this  only,  that  he  can  reap  the  advantages  of  past 
experience." 

In  the  fall  of  1827,  Mr  Nettleton,  being  advised  by 


106  TIMES  OF  .REFRESHING. 

his  physicians,  as  a  last  resort,  that  he  must  seek  a 
Southern  climate  in  order  to  restore  his  health,  went 
to  Virginia  where  he  remained  till  1829,  spending  the 
winters  in  Prince  Edward  county,  and  his  summers  at 
the  Springs  in  the  mountains.  But  though  so  feeble, 
he  could  not  be  idle.  As  health  and  strength  permit- 
ted, he  labored  in  different  parts  of  the  State  with 
much  success,  and  was  made  the  instrument  of  a 
great  work  of  Divine  grace.  Writing  to  a  friend  in 
Connecticut  at  the  end  of  the  period,  he  says:  "For 
three  winters  I  have  been  in  the  Southern  States,  and 
my  health  has  wonderfully  improved,  so  that  I  have 
been  able  to  labor  almost  incessantly.  The  scene  ot 
the  deepest  interest  was  in  the  county  of  Prince  Ed- 
ward, Yirginia,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Union  Theolog- 
ical Seminary,  and  Hampd en-Sidney  College.  Our 
first  meeting  of  inquiry  was  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Pice — 
the  very  mansion  containing  the  Theological  Students. 
More  than  a  hundred  were  present,  inquiring,  '  What 
must  we  do  to  be  saved?'  Among  the  subjects  of 
divine  grace  were  a  number  of  lawyers,  six  or  seven, 
and  some  of  them  among  the  leading  advocates  at 
the  bar.  Some  were  men  of  finished  education,  who 
are  soon  to  become  heralds  of  salvation." 

Di.  John  H.  Pice,  here  referred  to,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing testimony  as  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  this 
revival :  "  When  Mr.  Nettleton  had  strength  to  labor, 
he  soon  was  made  instrumental  in  producing  a  con- 
siderable excitement.  This  has  extended,  and  now 
the  state  of  things  is  deeply  interesting.  Five  law- 
yers, all  of  very  considerable  standing,  have  embraced 
religion.     This  has  produced  a  mighty  sensation  in 


NETTLETO.N    AND   HIS   WORK.  107 

Charlotte,  Mecklenburg,  Nottaway,  Cumberland, 
Powhattan,  Buckingham  and  Albemarle.  The  minds 
of  men  seem  to  stand  a- tiptoe,  and  they  seem  to  be 
looking  for  some  great  thing.  Mr.  Nettleton  is  a 
remarkable  man,  and  chiefly,  I  think,  remarkable  for 
his  power  of  producing  a  great  excitement,  without 
much  appearance  of  feeling.  The  people  do  not 
either  weep  or  talk  away  their  impressions.  The 
preacher  chiefly  addresses  Bible  truth  to  their  con- 
sciences. I  have  not  heard  him  utter,  as  yet,  a  single 
sentiment  opposed  to  what  you  and  I  call  orthodoxy. 
He  preaches  the  Bible.  He  derives  his  illustrations 
from  the  Bible." 

Dr.  Nettleton's  influence  during  this  visit  was  most 
marked  and  happy  on  the  theological  students.  He 
also  exerted  a  decided  and  salutary  influence  over 
many  clergyman  of  the  State  as  he  became  acquaint- 
ed with  them,  by  exciting  in  their  minds  an  increased 
interest  in  revivals.  One  of  them,  after  being  with 
him  two  weeks,  and  hearing  in  conversation  his  theo- 
logical views  and  methods,  said,  "  On  all  these  sub- 
jects he  was  the  most  interesting  and  instructive  indi- 
vidual with  whom  I  have  ever  had  intercourse;  and 
on  the  subject  of  revivals  of  religion,  incomparably 
the  wisest  man  I  ever  saw."  As  an  illustration  of 
his  wonderful  tact  and  sagacity  in  winning  souls,  in 
the  daily  intercourse  of  life,  which  was  indeed  one  of 
his  most  striking  characteristics,  we  select  from  his 
Memoir  a  touching  incident  related  by  himself  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend. 

u  During  my  residence  in  Virginia,  I  took  a  tour 
across  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  about  two  hundred 


108  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

miles,  to  spend  a  short  time  during  the  warm  season. 
On  my  way,  I  spent  a  few  weeks  at  a  place  called 
Staunton,  where  I  left  a  pleasant  little  circle  of  young 
converts.  On  a  certain  Sabbath,  as  we  were  almost 
destitute  of  singers,  I  noticed  a  female  voice,  which 
from  its  fullness,  and  sweetness,  and  wildness,  all  com- 
bined, attracted  my  attention.  On  arriving  at  my 
lodgings  I  inquired  of  a  young  lady  whose  voice  it 
could  be,  and  whether  we  could  not  catch  and  tame  it, 
and  enlist  it  in  our  service?  The  name,  I  was  informed, 
was  S — L.  '  Will  you  not  invite  her  to  call  and  see  us?' 
'  Oh,  she  is  a  very  gay  and  thoughtless  young  lady ;  was 
never  at  our  house,  and  we  have  no  acquaintance 
with  her.'  '  Tell  her  from  me  that  I  wish  to  see 
her— that  I  wa*t  the  aid  of  her  voice.'  N — went  out, 
and  in  a  few  moments  returned  with  the  interesting 
stranger,  who  sat  down  with  a  pleasing,  pensive  coun- 
tenance, which  seemed  to  say,  Now  is  my  time  to 
seek  an  interest  in  Christ.  And  so  it  was  that  she 
and  her  sister,  and  fifteen  or  twenty  others,  became 
deeply  impressed,  and  soon  became  joyful  in  Christ. 
This  little  circle  would  call  on  me  daily,  linking  hand 
in  hand,  and  smiling  through  their  tears,  would  sing 
Redeeming  Love.  I  bade  them  farewell — and  now 
for  the  sequel.  I  have  received  a  letter  from  Dr. 
"Wardell,  the  worthy  physician  of  that  place,  at  whose 
house  I  resided,  from  which  I  will  give  an  extract. 
'We  have  had  several  instances  of  death  from  typhus 
fever  since  you  left  us.  The  only  individual  whom 
you  know,  included  in  this  number,  was  one  of  your 
little  circle, —  S.  L.  It  will  be  no  less  gratifying  to 
you  than  it  is  to  her  friends  here,  to  learn   that  she 


NETTLETON    AND    HIS    WORK.  109 

gave  abundant  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
Christian  profession.  To  go  a  little  into  detail.  She 
had  been  complaining  for  several  days,  before  she 
would  consent  to  lie  by;  and  did  not  call  in  medical 
aid  for  some  days  after  her  confinement.  I  first  saw 
her  six  days  from  her  first  attack,  when  she  was  en- 
tirely prostrate.  She  said  she  believed  she  shun  1*1 
not  recover,  nor  had  she  any  desire  to  live  longer.  So 
far  from  being  dismayed  at  death,  she  seemed  to  view 
it  as  one  of  the  most  joyful  events.  I  was  in  some 
perplexity  to  ascertain  whether  these  were  the  feel- 
ings of  a  sound  mind,  and  the  vigorous  exercise  of 
faith;  and  closely  watched  for  some  incoherences  which 
might  settle  the  inquiry;  but  there  was  nothing  of  the 
kind.  She  was  too  weak  to  converse  much,  but  had 
her  friends  summoned  around  her,  to  give  them  a  word 
of  exhortation;  expressing  a  strong  desire  to  be  the 
means  of  leading  one  soul  to  heaven.  She  took  great 
delight  in  gazing  on  those  whom  she  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  meet  in  your  little  religious  circle,  because 
she  expected  to  meet  them  in  heaven.  She  often 
spoke  of  you,  and  your  little  social  meetings,  prayed 
for  you,  and  said  she  should  meet  you  in  a  larger  cir- 
cle in  heaven  than  she  had  ever  done  in  Staunton. 
In  order  to  test  the  correctness  of  her  apprehension, 
I  asked  her  if  she  would  feel  no  diffidence  in  beinc- 

o 

admitted  into  the  presence  of  a  Holy  God,  and  the 
holy  beings  who  surround  his  throne?  She  had 
strength  only  to  reply,  <  But  I  am  washed— I  am 
washed! '  She  lived  fourteen  days  after  I  saw  her  first. 
I  have  been  thus  particular,  because  she  requested 
that  some  one  would  inform  you  of  her  death.     You 


110  TIMES    OF   REFRESHING. 

will  pardon  me  for  sending  you  this  little  story.  It 
cannot  touch  your  feelings  as  it  does  my  own.  You 
may  read  it  to  your  young  people  as  a  token  of  affec- 
tionate remembrance  from  their  unworthy  friend." 

Returning  to  New  England  somewhat  improved  in 
health,  though  not  restored,  he  preached  at  different 
places  as  his  strength  permitted.  At  Munson,  Mass., 
in  1829,  and  in  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Newark  in 
1830 — 1831,  his  preaching  was  again  attended  with 
the  Divine  blessing.  In  1832,  at  the  advice  of  his 
friends,  he  made  a  visit  to  England.  After  his  return 
he  preached  for  some  time  at  Enfield,  Conn.,  and  in- 
several  other  places,  with  precious  revival  influences 
on  his  labors.  In  1833,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the 
organization  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  East 
Windsor,  Conn.,  and  was  appointed  one  of  its  Pro- 
fessors.. Here  he  continued  to  reside,  giving  occa- 
sional lectures  to  the  students,  again  visiting  the 
South  from  time  to  time  for  his  health,  and  preach- 
ing as  his  infirmity  allowed,  until  May  1844,  when 
his  useful  life  ended  in  a  peaceful  and  happy  death, 
and  he  entered  into  the  glorious  rest  of  the  blessed. 

Dr.  Nettleton  was  never  married.  So  devoted  was 
he  to  the  one  great  work  of  his  life,  so  unselfish  and 
self-sacrificing,  that  he  sometimes  even  refused  to  ac- 
cept money,  which  his  friends  had  voluntarily  raised 
for  his  support.  It  is  stated  by  his  biographer,  that 
during  the  first  ten  years  of  his  ministry,  though  con- 
stantly laboring  in  revivals,  he  received  as  a  compen- 
sation for  his  services,  a  sum  barely  sufficient  to  de- 
fray expenses;  so  that  when  his  health  broke  down  in 
1822,  he  was  found  so  destitute  that  his   friends  in 


NETTLETON   AND    HIS   WOEK.  Ill 

different  places  had  to  defray  the   expenses  of  his 
sickness. 

After  narrating,  even  in  this  brief  and  imperfect 
way,  the  prominent  facts  of  a  career  like  this,  it  will 
not  be  necessary  to  add  much  as  to  his  style  of  preach- 
ing and  his  peculiar  method  of  conducting  revivals. 
No  man  could  be  more  judicious  and  cautious  in  deal- 
ing with  souls.  This  seemed  to  be  his  special  gift. 
Probably  no  man  was  ever  endowed,  excepting  those 
only  who  are  inspired  of  God,  with  a  more  wonderful 
sagacity  and  insight,  as  it  regards  the  workings  of 
the  human  mind.  In  all  his  revivals  he  resorted  to 
no  extra  means  or  agencies.  He  seemed  to  need  none. 
Relying  simply  on  the  preaching  of  the  truth,  and 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  accompanying  the 
"Word,  in  all  his  revivals,  whether  short  or  long  con- 
tinued, he  was  for  the  most  part  satisfied  with  the 
ordinary  Sabbath  services,  with  one  or  two  evenings 
in  the  week  for  preaching.  With  great  solemnity 
and  directness  he  proclaimed  the  saving  truths  of  the 
gospel.  He  then  followed  this  up  with  inquiry  meet- 
ings for  the  anxious,  held  in  a  smaller  room,  and  with 
personal  conversations  held  with  individuals  from 
house  to  house.  There  was  an  indescribable  awe  upon 
his  congregations  while  he  was  preaching,  making 
them  feel  that  God  was  in  the  house,  and  there  was 
an  indescribable  charm  in  his  conversations  and  ad- 
dresses when  he  met  the  anxious  in  the  inquiry  room. 
Says  Mr.  Cobb,  of  Taunton,  one  of  his  most  intimate 
friends  and  fellow  laborers,  "  His  visits  among  the 
people  were  frequent,  but  short  and  profitable.  He 
entered  immediately  on  the  subject  of  the   salvation 


112  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

of  the  soul,  and  the  great  importance  of  attending  to 
it  without  delay.  He  did  not  customarily  propound 
questions  and  require  answers,  lest  by  this  means  he 
should  turn  the  attention  of  sinners  from  their  own 
wretched  state,  by  leading  them  to  think  4  how  they 
should  reply  to  the  minister.'  He  was  so  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  human  heart,  that  he  seemed  to 
have  an  intuitive  perception  of  what  was  passing  in 
the  minds  of  those  whom  he  was  addressing.  Thus 
he  could  so  direct  his  conversation  as  to  produce 
silence  and  self-condemnation,  and  confine  their 
thoughts  to  their  own  lost  and  ruined  state,  sometimes 
remarking,  '  You  have  no  time  to  spend  in  conversa- 
tion, before  the  salvation  of  the  soul  is  secured.'' 

"  When  any  indulged  a  hope  which  was  not  satisfac- 
tory, he  would  say,  '  You  had  better  give  it  up,  and 
seek  your  salvation  in  earnest.'  Well  versed  in  all 
the  doctrinal  and  experimental  parts  of  the  gospel; 
feeling  deeply  in  his  own  heart  the  power  of  divine 
truth,  he  was  qualified,  beyond  most,  to  judge  of  the 
character  of  others'  experience;  and  though  mild  and 
conciliatory  in  his  manner,  he  was  faithful  in  his 
warnings  against  false  hopes  and  spurious  conver- 
sions. All  selfish  considerations  in  the  concerns  of 
the  soul  he  discarded;  and  he  never  used  any  art  or 
cunning  to  entrap,  or  produce  commitment  on  the 
part  of  sinners.  In  the  anxious  circle  he  was  short, 
direct  in  his  remarks,  concluding  with  a  short  and 
fervent  prayer;  directing  his  petitions  solely  to  God, 
and  not  displaying  eloquence,  or  seeking  to  fascinate 
the  congregation,  lie  seemed  to  lose  sight  of  man, 
and  to  be  absorbed  in  a  sense  of  the  divine  presence." 


NETTLETON   AND    HIS   WOKK.  113 

"  In  his  sermons,  of  which  I  heard  sixty,  he  was, 
in  manner,  simple.  He  spoke  with  a  clear  voice — 
rather  slow  and  hesitating  at  first,  but  gradually 
rising,  till  before  the  close,  it  was  like  a  mighty  tor- 
rent bearing  down  all  before  it.  As  the  revival  be- 
came  more  interesting  and  powerful,  he  preach- 
ed more  doctrinally.  He  brought  from  his  treasure 
the  doctrines  of  total  depravity,  personal  election, 
reprobation,  the  sovereignty  of  divine  grace,  and 
the  universal  government  of  God  in  working  all 
things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will.  And  these 
great  doctrines  did  not  paralyze,  but  greatly  pro- 
moted the  good  work." 

Dr.  Sprague  and  others  tell  us  with  what  amazing 
power  he  sometimes  uttered  a  single  word  or  sentence, 
which  would  smite  and  penetrate  like  an  arrow,  and 
could  never  be  forgotten.  Dr.  Edward  Beech er  gives 
the  following  illustration  of  this,  in  a  sermon  which 
he  heard  on  the  parable  of  the  lost  sheep:  "  In  one 
part  of  the  sermon  he  came  to  a  point  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  state  of  the  sinner,  where  he  rose  to  the 
climax  of  emotion  and  impression,  by  ringing  out  in 
clear  and  thrilling  tones  the  words  'lost/  lost!! 
LOST!!!'  It  startled  and  electrified  me  at  the  time, 
but  I  did  not  know  how  great  was  its  practical  power 
till  he  told  me  that  those  words  had  been  the  arrows 
of  the  Almighty  to  many  in  the  various  places  in 
which  the  sermon  had  been  delivered/'  Dr.  Beecher 
adds,  "  So  long  as  I  knew  Mr.  Nettleton,  he  never  re- 
sorted to  what  are  called  '  anxious  seats,'  nor  did  he 
call  on  his  hearers  to  rise  for  prayer  or  to  testify  their 
purpose  to  serve  God.     Nor  did  he   ever   engage    in 


114  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

protracted  meetings.  The  services  of  the  Sabbath 
and  one  or  two  weekly  lectures  he  generally  regarded 
as  sufficient,  in  connection  with  meetings  of  inquirers, 
for  religious  conversation,  and  small  social  circles  for 
exhortation  and  prayer.  The  tones  of  his  voice  were 
deep  and  solemn,  his  person  was  dignified  and  com- 
manding, and  in  his  countenance  and  whole  aspect 
there  was  such  a  manifestation  of  absolute  conviction 
of  eternal  realities,  and  of  deep  earnestness  and 
emotion,  that  few  could  remain  long  in  his  presence 
unmoved." 

All  the  great  revivals  under  Dr.  Nettleton  were  in 
an  eminent  degree  beneficial  to  the  Churches;  and 
their  effects  were  as  permanent  as  they  were  salutary. 
They  invariably  strengthened  the  Churches,  and  en- 
couraged the  hearts  of  their  pastors.  There  is  no  in- 
stance on  record,  in  which  his  ministry  ever  divided 
a  church,  or  failed  to  augment  the  affection  of  the 
people  for  their  pastor.  It  is  the  unvarying  testi- 
mony of  his  cotemporaries,  that  these  revivals  exerted 
a  powerful  and  lasting  influence  for  good  upon  society 
at  large  wherever  they  occurred.  So  striking  was  the 
evidence  that  they  were  not  of  man's  devising,  but 
from  divine  agency,  that  in  many  cases  a  marked  so- 
lemnity and  awe  took  possession  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. Such  was  the  feeling  of  the  aroused  con- 
sciences of  men,  in  those  times,  that  the  very  name  of 
a  revival  had  a  wonderful  power.  The  announcement 
in  a  congregation,  that  a  revival  had  begun  in  a 
neighboring  town  would  produce  great  solemnity  on 
the  whole  assembly.  The  general  feeling  seemed  to 
be  that  God  had  come  nigh,  and  was  calling  men  in 


NETTLETON   AND    HIS   WORK.  115 

solemn  accents  to  meet  him.  As  to  the  permanence 
of  the  results  on  the  newly  converted,  Dr.  Kettleton 
himself  thus  writes:  "  For  a  number  of  years  I  have 
kept  a  list  of  the  names  of  those  who  have  hopefully 
experienced  religion,  and  made  a  profession  of  it  in 
these  revivals.  I  have  watched  them  with  anxious  solic- 
itude, and  have  made  particular  inquiry  about  the  spir- 
itual welfare  of  each  one  as  opportunity  presented. 
The  thousands  who  have  profe?sed  Christ,  in  this  time, 
in  general,  appear  to  run  well.  Hitherto,  I  think  they 
have  exhibited  more  of  the  Christian  temper,  and  a 
better  example,  than  the  same  number  who  have  pro- 
fessed religion  when  there  was  no  revival." 


CHAPTEK  V. 

REV.  DANIEL  BAKER  AND  HIS  EVANGELICAL  LA- 
BORS IN  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES. 

While  Dr.  Nettleton  was  carrying  forward  his 
wonderful  revival  meetings  in  Connecticut  and  the 
adjacent  States,  there  was  a  young  student  first  pass-, 
ing  through  College,  and  then  pursuing  his  Theo- 
logical studies  in  preparation  for  the  ministry,  whom 
God  had  especially  called  and  anointed  to  do  a  simi- 
lar work  in  many  of  the  Southern  States.  This  was 
Daniel  Baker,  whose  name  is  still  cherished,  with 
reverence  and  love,  in  many  a  Christian  household  of 
the  South — a  man  of  great  simplicity  of  character 
and  singleness  of  aim  in  life,  endowed  of  God  with 
evangelical  gifts  of  the  highest  order,  and  through  a 
long  ministry,  successful  in  winning  souls  to  Christ,  to 
a  degree  not  excelled  by  any  one  of  his  cotemporaries. 
His  successful  revival  work  commenced  indeed,  while 
he  was  yet  in  College,  but  his  public  ministry  em- 
braced a  period  of  forty-one  years  from  1816  to  1857. 

In  the  double  capacity  of  pastor  and  evan- 
gelist, his  ministry  was  extended  over  a  far 
wider  field  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  Presby- 
terian clergymen.  It  embraced,  in  fact,  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  from  Wash- 
ington City  to  Texas,  where  his  useful   life  closed  in 


<?W>  <72<*^c 


REV.    DA.NIEL   BAKER.  117 

1857.  As  a  missionary  and  revivalist  among  the 
churches,  he  held  the  same  pre-eminent  position  in 
this  vast  region,  which  had  been  accorded  to  Dr.  Net- 
tleton  in  the  Eastern  churches. 

In  some  respects  there  was  a  marked  correspondence 
of  work  and  character  between  the  two.  Each  pos- 
sessed in  eminent  degree  the  passion  for  souls,  the 
burning  evangelical  spirit,  which  shrank  from  no  toil 
and  no  sacrifice  in  the  Master's  cause.  Each  was  at 
the  same  time  deeply  imbued  with  a  reverent,  con- 
servative, and  even  cautious  cast  of  mind,  which 
shrank  from  all  rash  or  doubtful  measures,  and  felt 
that  it  must  walk  softly  before  the  Lord.  While  Dr. 
Nettleton  was  never  married,  Dr.  Baker  married  ear- 
ly and  reared  a  family  leaving  two  sons  in  the  minis- 
try. While  the  former  was  a  Congregationalist  and 
the  latter  a  Presbyterian,  their  work  was  identical  in 
spirit,  and  in  all  that  constitutes  Christian  character, 
they  were  brothers. 

In  the  extent  of  his  work,  in  the  signal  man- 
ifestations of  God's  blessing,  and  in  the  multi- 
tude of  persons  converted  under  his  ministry, 
Dr.  Baker  has  probably  never  been  excelled  in 
the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  pulpit.  He  has 
been  appropriately  called  the  Whitefield  of  the 
South.  In  fervor  and  devotion  of  spirit,  in  the  be- 
seeching pathos  and  unction  of  his  manner  in  preach- 
ing, as  well  as  in  the  extent  of  his  travels  and  the  suc- 
cess of  his  labors,  he  well  deserves  the  compliment  of 
such  comparison.  But  in  the  symmetry  of  his  min- 
isterial character  and  in  the  judiciousness  of  his 
counsels   and    measures,  he  was  a  very  different  man 


118  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

from  the  Great  English  Evangelist.     It  seems  a  strik- 
ing coincidence,  that  in  each  case,  there  was  the  grand 
endeavor,  pursued  with  unabated  enthusiasm  through 
years  of  toil,   of  founding   a   great   educational  and 
beneficent   Institution.     Whitefield   crossed    the  At- 
lantic many  times  and  traveled  over  the  British  Isles, 
raising  funds  to  accomplish  his  favorite  scheme  of  an 
Orphans'  Home  in  Georgia,   and  at  last  succeeded  in 
founding  the  first  institution  of  the  kind  in  America. 
Baker  spent  the  last  seven  years  of  his  life  in  a  simi- 
lar effort,  and  after  many  journeys  through  the  states, 
had  the  satisfaction  of  founding  at  Austin,  Texas,  the 
first  College  to  give  a  Christian  education  and  pre- 
pare young  men  for  the  ministry,  in  that  great  State. 
It  is  not  easy  to  give  in  brief  compass,  an  adequate 
view  of  the  extent,  variety,  and  wonderful  character 
of  his  evangelical  labors.     They  began    with   the  be- 
ginning of  his  studies  for  the  ministry  at  Ilampden- 
Sidney  College  in  1811,  when  about  twenty-two  years 
old,  and  ended  only  with  his  life  at  the   age  of  sixty- 
six.     He   was   born   in   Liberty   count}7,  Georgia,  in 
1791,  and  after  studying  awhile  at  Hampclen-Sidney, 
graduated  with  honor  at  Princeton  in  1815,  just  four 
years  after  he  had  first  taken  up  his  Latin  grammar. 
In  both  institutions  he  engaged  in   special  efforts  for 
the  salvation  of  his  fellow  students,  and  at  Princeton 
College,  then  under  the  Presidency  of  Dr.    Ashbel 
Green,  he  was  the  chief  instrument  of  an    extensive 
revival  of  religion  among  the  young  men.     On  grad- 
uating he  pursued   his   theological   studies   at  Win- 
chester, Virginia,  with  Dr.  William  Hill,  teaching  at 
the  same  time  a  Female  Academy,  and  engaging  in 


REV.    DANIEL    BAKER.  119 

exhortations  and  religious  services  among  the  people. 

He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  in  1816.  In 
1818  he  was  settled  as  pastor  in  the  Church  of  Harri- 
sonburg, Virginia.  This  was  his  first  charge.  These 
early  beginnings  were  but  the  harbingers  of  the  re- 
markable career  which  awaited  him.  His  whole  min- 
istry embraced  six  different  pastoral  charges  in  as 
many  different  states,  in  all  of  which  he  performed  a 
large  amount  of  missionary  and  evangelistic  work  in 
connection  with  his  pastorate.  In  fact,  he  always 
made  it  a  point,  to  have  an  understanding  with  his 
people  on  taking  any  new  pastoral  charge,  that  he 
should  have  the  liberty  of  spending  a  portion  of.  his 
time  in  such  labors  whenever  the  way  was  opened, 
and  God  called  him  to  it.  His  successive  pastoral 
charges  were  at  Harrisonburg,  Ya.,  Washington  City, 
Savannah,  Ga.,  Frankfort,  Ky.,  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  and 
Holly  Springs,  Miss.  In  every  one  of  them  he  had 
the  seal  of  the  Divine  blessing  on  his  work. 

During  these  several  pastorates  it  was  his  custom 
to  spend  a  large  portion  of  his  time  in  extended  mis- 
sionary excursions.  He  preached  night  and  day  for 
weeks  in  succession,  attended  by  immense  congrega- 
tions, and  honored  of  God  in  the  conversion  of  sinners 
and  the  edification  of  his  people.  Repeatedly,  too, 
during  his  ministry,  in  order  that  he  might  give  him- 
self the  more  fully  to  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  he  re- 
signed his  pastoral  charges,  and  took  an  appointment 
from  the  Synod  or  Presbytery.  Thus  he  traveled 
over  whole  States  preaching  the  gospel,  not  only 
through  all  the  Churches,  but  in  regions  beyond, 
where  it  had  never  been  heard  before. 


120  TIMES  OF  .REFRESHING. 

In  this  way  he  preached  to  thousands  through 
Georgia,  Florida,  the  Carolinas,  Virginia,  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and 
Texas,  with  portions  of  Louisiana,  Missouri,  and 
Ohio.  Before  he  became  a  resident  of  Texas,  he  had 
already  gone  to  that  State,  on  two  different  mission- 
ary excursions,  and  had  preached  the  gospel  in  many 
parts  of  it,  from  Galveston  to  the  Kio  Grande. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  his  last  seven  years 
were  devoted  to  what  he  regarded  as  the  great  effort 
of  his  life,  the  raising  of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
to  found  Austin  College  in  Texas.  During  thes-e 
years  he  made  four  extended  visits  to  the  older 
States,  some  of  them  as  far  East  as  New  York  City, 
collecting  funds,  and  preaching  to  the  crowds  who 
nocked  to  hear  him.  It  was  a  striking  fact  attending 
these  visits,  that  though  he  was  past  sixty,  and  doing 
what  to  some  might  seem  the  secular  work  of  raising 
money,  he  still  told  the  story  of  the  cross  with  the 
enthusiastic  unction  and  the  same  blessed  results  that 
had  marked  his  earlier  years.  In  North  and  South 
Carolina  especially,  he  preached  in  the  very  churches 
which  had  witnessed  the  triumphs  of  divine  grace 
under  his  ministry  twenty  years  before.  Day  after 
day,  and  week  after  week,  he  labored  on  from  place 
to  place,  in  a  series  of  revival  meetings  in  which  hun- 
dreds were  added  to  the  churches.  Not  unfrequently 
he  spoke  from  the  pulpit,  or  in  the  prayer  and  in- 
quiry meeting,  between  six  and  seven  hours  every 
day.  His  intellectual  and  spiritual  resources  seemed 
as  full  and  fresh  as  in  his  youth,  while   his   physical 


BEV.   DANIEL   BAKER.  121 

powers  of  endurance  seemed  to  know  no   exhaustion 
in  his  Master's  work. 

It  must  be  added,  as  illustrating  the  apostolic  spirit 
of  the  man,  that  his  frequent  removals  from  his  pas- 
toral charges  were  caused  by  no  dissatisfaction  on  the 
part  of  his  people,  but  sprang  from  his  own  yearning 
desire  to  preach  the  gospel  as  an  evangelist.  In  every 
instance  he  resigned  his  pastorate  at  the  height  of  his 
popularity  and  influence  among  the  people,  when  it 
almost  broke  their  hearts  to  give  him  up,  and  when 
it  cost  his  family  much  inconvenience  and  self-sacri- 
fice to  remove. 

As  an  instance  of  this,  in  1831,  when  he  had  been 
about  fifteen  years  in  the  ministry,  he  resigned  his 
pastoral  charge  over  the  large  and  flourishing  congre- 
gation of  Savannah,  and  spent  two  years  as  an  evan- 
gelist through  the  States  of  Georgia,  Florida,  and 
South  Carolina,  preaching  those  graphic  and  power- 
ful sermons,  which  have  since  been  published  in  his 
volumes,  called  "  Kevival  Sermons."  He  says  in  his 
autobiography,  that  his  sermons  for  this  whole  pe- 
riod averaged  two  for  every  day  in  the  year;  and  that 
two  thousand  and  five  hundred  persons  were  savingly 
converted  and  added  to  the  church.  A  large  number 
of  these  were  gentlemen  of  education  and  distinction 
in  the  community,  who  afterwards  wielded  a  powerful 
influence  for  good.  Some  of  them  entered  the  min- 
istry, and  reached  the  highest  spheres  of  usefulness 
in  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  and  Episcopal  pulpits. 
Among  his  converts  during  this  tour  were  Bishops 
Elliott  of  Georgia  and  Barnwell  of  South  Carolina, 
of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  Dr.  Richard  Fuller  of 
Baltimore,  of  the  Baptist  church. 


122  TIMES  OF  KEFBESHING. 

After  this  extended  and  exhausting  labor  of  two 
years,  he  set  out  to  go  to  Ohio,  but  on  the  way  was 
providentially  detained  in  the  vicinity  of  Prince  Ed- 
ward, Virginia.  Here  he  remained  for  one  year,  and 
at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  pastors,  held  a  series 
of  protracted  meetings  in  the  Churches  of  that  region. 
His  labors  were  again  greatly  blessed  by  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  resulted  in  the  con- 
version of  one  thousand  souls.  These  two  instances 
of  the  success  of  his  evangelical  labors  are  referred  to 
simply  to  give  the  reader  some  conception  of  the  work 
which  distinguished  Dr.  Baker's  ministry  from  its 
beginning  to  its  close.  Until  he  was  stricken  down 
by  his  last  sickness,  he  had  never  ceased  to  travel,  and 
to  hold  protracted  meetings.  As  he  had  done  in  all 
the  older  States  where  he  resided,  so  he  traversed  the 
whole  State  of  Texas,  preaching  the  gospel  to  its  ut- 
most western  borders  where  there  were  no  organized 
Churches,  and  where  it  had  never  been  heard  before. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  the  number  of  persons 
hopefully  converted  under  his  preaching  could  not 
have  been  less  than  twenty  thousand.  The  influence 
exerted  upon  the  Presbyterian  Churches,  and  upon 
other  evangelical  Churches,  in  this  vast  region  is  be- 
yond all  computation.  Who  can  estimate  the  good 
done  to  uncounted  multitudes,  both  of  saints  and 
sinners,  who  heard  his  voice,  and  were  impressed  by 
his  beseeching  eloquence? 

This  brief  summary  may  serve  to  give  some  idea  of 
his  spirit  and  character  to  those  not  acquainted  with 
him,  or  who  have  not  read  the  memoir  published  by 
his  son.  They  may  ask  the  question,  What  constituted 


REV.    DANIEL    BAKER.  123 

his  peculiar  power  as  a  preacher?  Wherein  lay  the 
secret  of  his  success  in  persuading  sinners  to  be  rec- 
onciled to  God?  Perhaps  a  true  solution  will  be 
found  in  a  characteristic  passage  of  his  diary,  penned 
while  he  was  yet  a  student  in  Hampden- Sidney  Col- 
lege: 

"  Dry,  logical  sermons,  with  rounded  periods,  de- 
livered in  a  cold,  formal  and  heartless  manner,  I  can 
never  relish,  however  beautified  by  the  superficial 
elegances  of  composition;  and  I  question  if  the  good 
effects  which  flow  from  such  preaching  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  compensate  the  minister  for  all  his  care,  labor 
and  refinement.  I  love  warm,  animating,  lively, 
evangelominos  preaching,  full  of  fire,  breathing  love 
and  compassion.  Oh,  may  I  never  become  a  cold,  life- 
less, sentimental  preacher,  but  may  I  imitate  the  zeal 
of  a  Whitefield,  the  tenderness  of  a  Hervey,  the  af- 
fection of  a  Baxter,  and  blend  all  with  the  pure, 
sound,  evangelical  principles  of  a  Doddridge." 

The  style  of  preacher,  thus  early  indicated  as  the 
ideal  of  his  aspirations,  he  certainly  did  attain  to  in 
an  eminent  degree.  Warmth,  fire,  tenderness,  earnest- 
ness, unction,  directness,  pungency,  and  sound  doc- 
trine were  the  striking  features  that  marked  his 
preaching;  and  they  were  combined  with  so  much 
originality  and  freshness,  such  uniqueness  of  thought, 
feeling  and  method,  as  well  as  of  voice,  look  and  ges- 
ture, as  to  enchain  the  attention  of  all  hearers,  and 
make  them  feel  that  what  he  uttered  was  the  truth  of 
God.  All  men  felt, — no  man  that  heard  and  saw  him 
from  day  to  day  in  his  revival  work  could  possibly 
doubt, — that  Daniel  Baker  was  a  man  of  God,  that  his 


124:  TIMES   OF  REFRESHING. 

soul  was  tilled  with  the  love  of  Christ,  and  that  he 
knew  by  experience  what  he  preached  to  others.  His 
whole  style  and  method  of  preaching  was  so  peculiar 
to  himself,  so  unlike  that  of  all  other  preachers,  that 
it  might  be  said  with  emphasis,  there  was  but  one 
Daniel  Baker  in  the  world. 

The  supreme  purpose  of  his  life  was  to  save  souls 
and  honor  Christ.  This  intense,  uniform  devotion  to 
his  work,  this  burning  desire  to  preach  so  as  to  save 
men,  was  no  doubt  one  main  secret  of  his  power  with 
God  and  his  influence  over  men.  He  was  a  thorough 
Presbyterian,  and  most  ardently  attached  to  the  doc-' 
trines  and  polity  of  his  own  Church.  At  the  same 
time,  he  was  a  man  of  large  Catholic  spirit,  in  loving 
sympathy  with  all  evangelical  Christians  of  every 
name.  Through  his  whole  ministry,  his  influence 
over  other  denominations  was  second  only  to  that  over 
his  own.  We  have  probably  never  had  a  minister 
whom  Christians  of  all  evangelical  Churches  held  in 
higher  honor,  or  loved  more  to  hear.  All  claimed 
him  as  their  own,  and  he  recognized  all  as  his  breth- 
ren. He  was  especially  admired  by  the  colored 
people  of  the  South,  for  whom  he  felt  the  deepest  in- 
terest, to  whom  he  always  preached  when  opportunity 
was  given,  and  who  flocked  in  great  crowds  to  hear 
him.  He  was  in  full  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  sublime 
apostrophe  related  of  Whitefi eld,  and  sometimes  re- 
peated it  to  his  own  hearers:  "Father  Abraham, 
have  you  any  Episcopalians  in  Heaven?  No,  we  have 
none  here  by  that  name.  Father  Abraham,  have  you 
any  Presbyterians  in  heaven?  "No,  Presbyterians  are 
not  known  here.     Father    Abraham,    have    you  any 


REV.    DANIEL   BAKER.  125 

Baptists  in  heaven?  ]5To,  that  name  is  never  heard 
here.  Well,  Father  Abraham,  liave  you  any  Chris- 
tians in  heaven?  Yes,  all  are  Christians  here,  we  have 
none  but  Christians  in  heaven." 

Few  men,  perhaps,  have  ever  been  so  active  and  so 
successful  in  bringing  young  men  into  the  ministry. 
That  purpose  was  distinctly  before  him  in  the  found- 
ing of  Austin  College,  and  it  seemed  indeed  never  to 
be  absent  from  his  mind.  A  single  incident,  will  illus- 
trate his  zeal  in  this  respect.  In  18M,  when  he  was 
visiting  the  Churches  of  Mississippi,  as  an  evangelist,  in 
a  small  county-seat  town,  where  he  had  an  appointment 
to  preach,  he  was  entertained  at  the  house  of  an  influ- 
ential and  cultivated  gentleman,  then  married  and  en- 
gaged in  secular  business,  who  till  then  had  not  known 
Dr.  Baker.  He  stayed  only  a  few  days,  but  before  he 
left  the  house,  he  had  succeeded  in  convincing  this 
gentleman  that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach  the  gospel. 
In  less  than  one  year,  the  gentleman  was  accordingly 
in  the  full  work  of  the  ministry,  and  spent  his  life  in 
the  service. 

A  minister  of  another  denomination,  who  was 
accustomed  to  hear  him  frequently,  while  a  pastor 
in  Washington,  attracted  by  his  earnest  preaching 
and  consistent  life,  thus  writes  after  his  death: 

u  He  was  a  man  of  prayer ;  he  preached  to  save  souls ; 
he  walked  with  God.  For  more  than  thirty  years  I 
have  not  seen,  but  I  have  often  been  gratified  by  hear- 
ing of  his  evangelical  labors  and  his  abundant  success. 
Twenty  thousand  converts !  What  a  host  of  gems  for 
one  servant  to  collect  out  of  the  rubbish  of  a  depraved 
world  for  his  Master's  crown !     Knowing  the  man  as 


126  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

lie  was  from  1822  to  1827,  I  can  easily  understand  the 
secret  of  his  usefulness.  He  sought  the  appointed 
end ;  he  labored  upon  the  appointed  plan ;  he  used  the 
appointed  means.  He  was  sincere,  earnest,  simple- 
minded.  He  did  one  thing,  and  did  it  well.  Surely, 
his  rest  was  glorious. "' 

The  same  thing  is  well  expressed  by  his  biograph- 
er: "  There  is  no  disguising  the  fact,  he  wras  a  man 
of  one  book,  the  Bible;  of  one  idea,  the  salvation  of 
men  by  a  crucified  Savior;  of  one  occupation  and  ob- 
ject in  life,  the  making  known,  as  he  was  enabled  of 
God,  this  salvation  to  men." 

Dr.  Baker,  as  already  indicated,  was  eminently  con- 
servative in  all  his  principles  and  methods.  He  went 
a  little  farther  than  Dr.  Nettleton  had  done,  and  made 
use  of  the  anxious  seat  to  a  limited  extent,  that  is  to 
say,  he  called  upon  the  people  to  show  their  interest 
in  salvation  by  coming  forward  to  be  prayed  for.  But 
he  did  this  with  much  caution  and  solemnity.  His 
decided  preference  was  for  the  inquiry  meeting,  of 
which  he  made  much  use  in  all  his  revivals.  He  was 
always  respectful  and  deferential  to  the  pastors  in 
whose  Churches  he  preached.  A  pastor  himself,  he 
assumed  no  authority  over  them.  In  all  his  meetings 
he  loved  to  labor  with  the  pastors,  and  under  their 
direction.  His  presence  in  a  congregation  invariably 
strengthened  the  influence  of  the  pastors,  and  the  re- 
spect of  the  people  for  them.  This  was  indeed  one  of 
the  most  blessed  results  of  his  widely  extended  move- 
ments among  the  Churches.  Pastors  and  people  were 
always,  and  everywhere,  glad  to  receive  him,  and 
sorry  when  the  time  came  for  his  departure.     While 


REV.    DANIEL    BAKER.  127 

all  Christians  loved  and  honored  him,  we  have  prob- 
ably never  had  an  evangelist  in  all  onr  history,  who 
had  so  fully  won  the  high  respect,  approval,  and  even 
admiration,  of  the  people  of  the  world  wherever  he 
lived. 

No  man,  probably,  has  lived  in  our  times,  who  re- 
alized more  fully  what  it  was  to  live  the  life  of  faith 
and  trust,  and  of  close  communion  with  God.  He 
carried  this  spirit  into  all  his  pulpit  ministrations. 
He  preached  the  things  of  the  gospel  with  that 
sort  of  vivid  impression  of  them  and  that  relish  for 
them,  which  might  be  in&pired  by  having  seen  and 
felt  them.  His  testimony  was  like  that  of  an  eye- 
witness. For  all  forms  of  metaphysics  and  specula- 
tive philosophy  he  had  a  positive  aversion.  Why 
should  he  reason  and  debate  about  truths  which  he 
knew  and  felt,  had  seen  and  heard  on  the  holy  mount? 

"As  to  studying  the  elaborate  works  against 
Christianity  [remarks  his  biographer]  he  occasionally 
attempted  it;  but  his  patience  would  always  fail. 
With  him  it  was  worse  than  if  he  should  stand  at 
high  noon,  and  with  the  meridian  splendor  of  the  sun 
blazing  full  upon  the  page,  read  an  argument  proving 
that  there  is  no  sun.  He  was  not  philosophic  enough 
for  the  task." 

To  one  who  had  never  seen  or  heard  Dr.  Baker,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  convey  an  adequate  conception 
of  his  personal  appearance  and  peculiar  style  of 
preaching.  His  manner  was  always  that  of  the  best 
extemporaneous  speakers — free,  easy,  natural,  fluent, 
animated.  He  was  never  known  to  use  any  kind  of 
manuscript  in  the  pulpit.     His  sermon,  on  all  occa- 


128  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

Bions,  was  a  speech,  pointed,  direct,  and  delivered 
without  ever  hesitating  one  instant  for  the  proper 
word  or  the  proper  thought.  And  though  he  had 
such  wealth  of  diction,  that  he  seemed  able  to  speak 
all  day,  he  was  never  prolix.  Through  life,  in  the 
midst  of  the  most  exciting  revival  scenes,  where  the 
people  would  have  stayed  all  night  to  hear  him,  his 
sermons  were  always  characterized  by  brevity — often 
not  over  thirty  or  thirty-five  minutes  long.  But 
these  short  sermons,  seemingly  so  off-hand  and  un- 
studied, were  the  beaten  oil  of  the  sanctuary.  They 
were  the  very  condensation  of  weighty  matter,  in 
terse,  simple,  pungent,  powerful  diction.  There  was 
not  one  superfluous  expression,  not  one  redundant 
word.  Every  word  and  sentence  filled  its  chosen 
place,  and  went  home  to  the  heart  and  conscience  of 
the  hearer.  Every  sermon  was  constructed  with  a 
view  to  produce  immediate  results;  every  sentence 
and  paragraph,  every  argument  and  illustration,  add- 
ed to  the  impression  as  he  advanced,  and  the  dis- 
course closed  when  that  impression  was  at  its  height. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  after  this  statement, 
that  Dr.  Baker's  sermons  were  thoroughly  prepared. 
They  were,  in  fact,  carefully  written  out;  and  for  the 
most  part,  he  preached  them  precisely  as  he  had 
written  them,  without  changing  a  word  or  sentence 
in  the  delivery.  The  revival  sermons,  which  have 
since  been  published,  were  often  repeated,  and  usually 
without  change.  He  did  not  alter  them  in  the  least, 
either  as  to  matter  or  expression,  but  preached  them 
on  all  occasions,  with  equal  animation  and  effect,  just 
as  they  now  stand  in  his  volumes.     Why  should  he 


REV.    DANIEL    BAKER.  129 

have  changed  them?  For  the  object  he  had  in  view, 
they  were  as  perfect  as  they  could  be  made.  Each 
discourse  was  a  unit,  distinct  in  its  theme,  symmet- 
rical in  its  plan,  vivid  with  apt  illustrations,  clear  in 
its  statements,  full  of  saving  gospel  truth,  and  as  sim- 
ple and  forcible  in  its  diction  as  language  could  be 
made.  It  was  thought  reduced  to  its  simplest,  clear- 
est elements;  and  language  condensed  to  its  briefest, 
strongest  terms.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  unity  of 
conception,  the  symmetry  of  plan,  the  concise  strength 
of  diction,  the  aptness  of  illustration,  the  radiant 
clearness  of  style,  the  unction  of  saving  truth,  and 
the  adaptation  to  their  end,  that  mark  these  revival 
sermons.  They  may  well  be  commended  as  a  study 
for  our  young  ministers.  Dr.  Baker  once  re- 
marked that  in  tbe  early  years  of  his  ministry, 
he  had  carefully  written  out  between  two  and  three 
hundred  of  these  sermons,  and  that  he  could  preach 
anv  of  them  on  very  short  notice,  without  any  use  of 
the  manuscript — so  retentive  was  his  memory,  and  so 
complete  his  mastery  of  their  contents. 

It  has  been  stated  that,  when  Mr.  Moody  was  in 
England  in  the  midst  of  his  great  revival  work,  he 
was  requested  by  some  friends  to  prepare  a  series  of 
his  own  sermons  and  addresses  for  publication  in  a 
volume.  He  declined  the  proposal,  but  at  once  sug- 
gested the  publication  of  a  volume  selected  from  the 
revival  sermons  of  Daniel  Baker.  Any  one  who  was 
at  all  acquainted  with  the  spirit  of  the  two  men,  or 
the  identity  of  the  great  doctrines  preached  by  them, 
would  be  struck  with  the  fitness  of  the  selection,  in 
which  the  greatest  of  lay  preachers  commended  the 


130  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

heart-stirring  discourses  of  Daniel  Baker  as  being  the 
truest  and  best  exponent  of  his  own  gospel. 

His  personal  appearance  was  striking  and  unique. 
He  was  about  the  medium  height,  with  broad  shoul- 
ders, strongly  and  compactly  built,  without  being 
corpulent,  and  capable  of  great  physical  endurance, 
with  large  and  grave  features,  and  a  voice  deep,  sono- 
rous and  distinctly  audible  to  its  lowest  whisper.  He 
was  one  of  the  happiest  men  on  earth ;  and  his  face, 
though  grave,  was  always  lighted,  as  if  from  the  sun- 
shine of  his  cheerful  spirit.  He  was  never  loud  or 
boisterous,  extravagant  or  vehement,  even  in  the  most, 
exciting  scenes.  There  was  no  approach  to  violence 
or  vociferation;  but  his  voice,  deep,  full  and  distinct, 
had  an  indescribable  earnestness  and  pathos,  which  no 
one  who  heard  it  could  ever  forget.  While  speak- 
ing, there  was  an  aspect  of  solemnity,  of  reverence, 
of  benignity,  of  peace  with  God  and  good  will  to 
man,  upon  his  face  and  in  his  whole  deportment, 
which  was  but  the  reflection  of  that  high  communion 
which  his  soul  held  with  God.  Judged  by  the  work 
he  accomplished,  and  the  multitude  of  souls  he  won 
for  Christ,  there  is  no  man  of  the  past  generation  bet- 
ter entitled  to  be  called  a  great  gospel  preacher  than 
Daniel  Baker. 

Nothing  in  all  his  interesting  autobiography  and 
the  supplementary  memoir  by  his  son,  has  struck 
us  with  greater  force  than  the  following  passage  by 
the  latter,  as  giving  the  true  key  to  his  excellence  as  a 
preacher: 

"  The  remark  was  often  made  in  regard  to  Dr.  Ba- 
ker, how  high  he  would  have  risen,  had  he  gone  from 


REV.    DANIEL    BAKER.  131 

the  outset  into  political  life,  instead  of  the  pulpit; 
what  a  millionaire  he  would  have  become  as  a  mer- 
chant. Let  the  truth  be  spoken.  It  is  not  so.  It 
was  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  in  almost  ev- 
ery sense  of  the  word  made  him  the  man  he  was.  In 
following  his  Master,  he  attained  a  larger  manhood 
than  he  would  ever  otherwise  have  known.  The 
knowledge  of  Christ  elevated,  expanded  and  strength- 
ened his  intellect,  as  nothing  else  could  have  done. 
It  was  the  love  for  Christ,  and  the  consequent  love 
for  his  fellowmen,  which  enlarged,  invigorated  and 
lent  a  swifter  beat  to  his  heart.  Intellect,  heart,  even 
bodily  frame,  received  from  God,  the  Holy  Ghost,  a 
supernatural  development  and  quickening.  It  was 
the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God  that  caused  him  to 
grow,  so  far  as  he  did  grow,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ. 
Had  he  remained  unregenerate,  he  would  never,  in 
any  pursuit  of  life,  have  risen,  as  a  man,  to  the  rank 
of  manhood  he  did  attain  as  a  servant  of  Christ.  No 
other  object  whatever  could  have  aroused  him  to  the 
energy  he  displayed  in  striving  for  the  salvation  of 
souls. .  ]STo  conceivable  motive  could  have  constrained 
him  as  did  the  love  of  Christ.  What  duty  was  to 
Wellington,  glory  to  Napoleon,  love  of  country  to 
Washington,  the  love  of  Christ  was  to  him,  as  it  was 
to  Paul,  and  as  it  is  to  all  servants  of  Christ  accord- 
ing to  their  measure  of  faith." 

It  has  been  the  fashion  with  a  certain  class  of  semi- 
skeptical  writers,  like  Carlyle,  to  disparage  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  present  age,  as  one  of  cant  and  hypoc- 
risy, of  words  rather  than  deeds,  of  empty  professions 


132  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

and  shams;  and  to  speak  of  faith  as  having  died  out 
with  the  men  of  former  times.  The  life  of  Daniel 
Baker  is  a  sufficient  refutation  of  the  slander.  No 
man  can  follow  this  career  of  forty-one  years,  through 
mental  and  bodily  toil,  and  voluntary  self-exile,  for 
a  large  part  of  the  time,  from  all  the  comforts  and 
endearments  of  the  home  circle,  without  feeling  that 
religion  with  him  was  all  in  all;  that  faith  was  earnest 
and  real,  full  of  the  heroism  of  great  deeds;  and  that 
the  ruling  passion  of  his  soul,  like  that  of  Paul,  was 
to  glorify  his  Master,  and  do  good  to  dying  men.  To 
this  miracle  of  a  pure,  holy,  disinterested  life,  spend- 
ing itself  joyfully  for  the  good  of  others,  in  a  world 
of  selfishness  and  ambition,  Christianity  may  now 
point  with  the  same  confidence  to  Daniel  Baker  and 
others  of  like  spirit,  as  it  once  did  to  the  example  of 
Paul.  Behold  what  he  did  for  the  gospel  of  Christ! 
Nay,  rather  first  behold  what  the  gospel  of  Christ 
did  for  him! 


C^t^t^^^y7  * 


CHAPTEK  VI. 

THE     REVIVALS    UNDER    THE     LABORS     OF    REV. 
CHARLES    G.  FINNEY, 

Any  history  of  revivals  prepared  by  human  hands 
must  contemplate  them  chiefly  on  their  human  side. 
The  facts  to  be  set  forth  and  the  problems  to  be 
studied  therein  relate  primarily  to  the  human  agents. 
This  does  not  deny  the  presence  of  a  divine  agency, 
and  should  never  be  allowed  to  disparage  or  dishonor 
it.  The  presence  and  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  are 
always  to  be  assumed  wherever  souls  are  new-born 
to  holiness.  One  of  the  most  vital  problems  we  have  to 
study  pertains  to  the  interworking  of  the  human  with 
the  divine — the  laws  that  control  the  glorious  fact — 
man,  a  "  laborer  with  God;"  the  gospel  "  treasure  in 
earthern  vessels  that  the  excellency  of  the  power  may 
be  of  God  and  not  of  man;"  a  Paul  to  plant  and  an 
Apollos  to  water,  but  one  mightier  than  either  to 
"  give  the  increase." 

Comparing  one  with  another  the  various  waves  of 
revival  power  that  have  passed  over  portions  of  our 
country  within  the  past  one  hundred  and  forty  years, 
it  is  noticeable  that  in  some  the  human  agents  have 
appeared  in  groups,  with  perhaps  some  one  central 
figure,  more  prominent  than  the  rest;  while  in  others 
the  human  agency  has  been  almost  exclusively   that 


134  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

of  some  one  man.  Of  the  latter  sort  are  the  revivals 
that  have  been  associated  with  the  name  of  Charles  G. 
Finney.  Contemplated  on  their  human  side,  these  re- 
vivals appear  in  the  light  of  history  to  have  been  very 
largely  due  to  his  personal  influence  and  labors.  Let 
it  not  be  supposed  that  for  this  reason  there  has  been 
in  them  more  of  man  and  less  of  God,  or  that  any 
more  honor  is  due  to  the  human  instrument  than  if 
the  labor  had  been  shared  by  so  many  that  no  one 
name  could  legitimately  appear  in  history  at  all. 

Mr.  Finne}T's  personal  prominence  in  these  great 
revivals  serves  to  simplify  their  study  as  bearing  upon  • 
the  philosophy  of  revivals — the  relation  of  the  human 
element  to  the  divine.  It  becomes  mainly  the  study 
of  one  man.  Naturally  it  must  contemplate  this  one 
man  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  for  the  pulpit  must 
be  the  throne  of  his  power.  To  reach  the  sources  of 
his  pulpit  power,  we  must  needs  study  his  original 
endowments,  mental  and  moral;  his  antecedent  edu- 
cation; his  experiences  at  the  point  of  his  conversion 
and  in  his  subsequent  spiritual  life;  his  practical 
views  of  the  gospel  scheme;  his  way  of  putting  the 
great  truths  of  the  gospel  before  his  hearers;  and,  if 
last,  not  least,  his  power  with  God  in  prayer. 

Mr.  Finney  was  born  in  Warren,  Conn.,  August 
29,  1792;  but  at  the  age  of  two  years  was  removed 
with  his  parents  to  Oneida  county.  N.  Y.,  and,  short- 
ly after,  to  Jefferson  county,  near  Lake  Ontario,  then 
a  very  new  settlement  and  but  scantily  supplied  with 
higher  schools  or  instructive  preaching.  His  own 
narrative  ("Autobiography:"  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co. 
1870)  speaks  of  attending  common    schools    summer 


REVIVALS    UNDER   FINNEY.  135 

and  winter  till  the  age  of  fifteen,  after  which  he  en- 
joyed still  better  opportunities  in  high  schools  for 
some  three  years  in  New  Jersey,  and  spent  also  con- 
siderable time  in  teaching.  He  never  enjoyed  the 
advantages  of  a  college  course,  but  readily  mastered 
the  branches  taught  then  in  the  higher  schools,  and 
ultimately  obtained  some  knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek, 
and,  in  later  years,  of  Hebrew.  Three  years  (1818- 
1821)  he  devoted  to  the  study  and  practice  of  the  law 
— a  training  which  developed  in  his  mind  the  great 
principles  of  law  and  jurisprudence;  prepared  him  in 
some  points  for  Bible  study  by  schooling  him  in  the 
science  of  interpretation ;  and,  moreover,  through  his 
practice  at  the  bar,  initiated  him  into  the  skill  of  di- 
rect personal  address,  thinking  on  his  feet,  and 
adjusting  his  appeals  to  the  men  before  him  and  the 
very  case  in  hand.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Bible 
was  first  brought  to  his  particular  notice  by  the  ref- 
erences to  it  which  he  met  in  his  law  books.  So  he 
bought  his  first  Bible  to  add  to  his  law  library. 

It  was  during  these  years  of  his  law  studies  (then 
aged  26-29)  that  he  was  gradually  brought  face  to 
face  with  religious  truth  and  the  claims  of  God  upon 
his  heart.  Leading  the  choir  in  church,  and  hence 
mainly  constant  in  attendance;  occasionally  dropping 
into  a  prayer  meeting,  and  there  struck  with  the  fact 
that  so  many  prayers  were  apparently  unanswered, 
while  yet  the  Scripture  promises  seemed  to  him  very 
definite  and  strong;  agitating  profoundly  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  Bible  must  be  accepted  as  from  God; 
his  mind  opening  more  and  more  to  the  mighty  con- 
viction of  personal  responsibility  to  his  Maker — to  a 


136  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

sense  of  sin  and  of  personal  need  of  a  Redeemer, — 
he  came  at  length  to  see  that  he  mnst  be  born  again 
and  to  feel  that  now  is  the  accepted  time.  With  his 
natural  simplicity  and  frankness  he  tells  us  in  his 
narrative  of  his  conversion  (p.  12),  how  he  found 
himself  very  proud  without  having  been  aware  of  it; 
how  he  kept  shy  of  religious  people,  put  his  Bible  out 
of  sight,  and  dared  not  pray  above  his  breath,  and  yet 
how  some  unknown  power  held  the  truth  pressing 
more  and  more  upon  his  conscience.  At  the  vital 
point  (in  his  own  words)  "  something  seemed  to  con- 
front me  with  questions  like  these-r-indeed  it  seemed 
as  if  the  inquiry  was  within  myself,  as  if  an  inward 
voice  said  to  me:  'What  are  you  waiting  for?  Did 
you  not  promise  to  give  your  heart  to  God?  And 
what  are  you  trying  to  do?  Would  you  work  out  a 
righteousness  of  your  own  V 

"  Just  at  this  point  the  whole  question  of  gospel 
salvation  opened  to  my  mind  in  a  manner  most  mar- 
velous to  me  at  the  time.  I  think  I  then  saw,  as 
clearly  as  I  ever  have  in  my  life,  the  reality  and  full- 
ness of  the  atonement  of  Christ.  I  saw  that  his  was 
a  finished  work,  and  that  instead  of  having  or  need- 
ing any  righteousness  of  my  own  to  recommend  me 
to  God,  I  had  to  submit  myself  to  the  righteousness 
of  God  through  Christ.  Gospel  salvation  seemed  to 
me  to  be  an  offer  of  something  to  be  accepted;  and 
that  it  was  full  and  complete,  and  all  that  was  neces- 
sary on  my  part  was  to  get  my  own  consent  to  give 
up  my  sins  and  accept  Christ.  Salvation,  it  seemed 
to  me,  instead  of  being  a  thing  to  be  wrought  out  by 
my  own  works,  was  a  thing  to  be  found  entirely  in 


.REVIVALS   UNDER   FINNEY.  137 

the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  presented  himself  "before 
me  as  my  God  and  Savior.  After  this  distinct  reve- 
lation had  stood  for  some  little  time  before  my  mind, 
the  question  seemed  to  be  put,  'Will  you  accept  it 
now,  to-day?'  I  replied  '  Yes,  I  will  accept  it  to- 
day, or  I  will  die  in  the  attempt.' "  ("  Biography," 
p.  13—14.) 

Having  found  a  closet  in  the  forest,  a  yet  deeper 
sense  of  his  great  pride  came  over  him:  "  Just  at  this 
moment  I  again  thought  I  heard  some  one  approach 
me,  and  I  opened  my  eyes  to  see  whether  it  were  so. 
Right  there  I  saw  that  my  pride  of  heart  was  the 
great  difficulty  in  my  way.  An  overwhelming  sense 
of  my  wickedness  in  being  ashamed  to  have  a  human 
being  see  me  on  my  knees  before  God  took  such  pow- 
erful possession  of  me  that  I  cried  at  the  top  of  my 
voice  and  exclaimed  that  I  would  not  leave  that  place 
though  all  the  men  on  earth  and  all  the  devils  in  hell 
should  surround  me.  'What!'  I  said,  'such  a  de- 
graded sinner  as  I  am,  on  my  knees  confessing  my 
sins  to  the  great  and  holy  God,  yet  ashamed  to  have 
any  human  being,  and  a  sinner  like  myself,  find  me 
on  «iy  knees  endeavoring  to  make  my  peace  with  my 
offended  God!'  The  sin  appeared  awful,  infinite.  It 
broke  me  down  before  the  Lord." 

"  Just  at  this  point  this  passage  of  scripture  seemed 
to  drop  into  my  mind  with  a  flood  of  light:  'Then 
shall  ye  go  and  pray  unto  me,  and  I  will  hearken  unto 
vou.  Then  shall  ye  seek  me,  and  find  me  when  ye 
shall  search  forme  with  all  your  heart.'  Instantly  I 
seized  hold  of  this  with  my  heart.  I  had  believed  the 
Bible  before  intellectually,  but  never  had  the  truth 


138  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING.   - 

been  in  my  mind   that  faith  was  a  voluntary  trust 
instead  of  an  intellectual  state.     I  was  as  conscious  as 
I  was  of  ray  existence,  of  trusting  at  that  moment  in 
God's  veracity.     Somehow  I  knew  that  was  a  passage 
of  scripture,  though  I  do  not  think  I  had  ever  read  it. 
I  knew  it  was  God's  word,  and  God's  voice,  as  it  were, 
that  spoke  to  me.     I  cried  to  Him,  "Lord,  I  take  thee 
at  thy  word.     Now  thou  knowest  that  I  do  search  for 
thee  with  all  my  heart,  and  that  I  have  come  here  to 
pray  to  thee;  and  thou  hast  promised  to  hear  me."  * 
*      *      He  then  gave  me  other  promises,  especially 
some  most  precious  promises  respecting  Jesus  Christ. 
I  can  never  in  words  make  any  human  being  under- 
stand how  precious  and  true  those  promises  appeared 
to  me.     I  took  them  one  after  the  other  as  infallible 
truth— the  assertions  of  God  who  could  not  lie.     They 
did  not  seem  so  much  to  fall  into  my  intellect  as  into 
my  heart,  to  be  put  within  the  grasp  of  my  voluntary 
powers  of  mind,  and  I  seized  hold  of  them,  appropri- 
ated them  and  fastened  upon  them  with  the  grasp  of 
a  drowning  man."    *      *      *    "  The  question  wheth- 
er I  was  converted  had  not  occurred  to  me,  but  on 
my  way  back  I  recollect  saying  with  great  emphasis, 
'  If  I  am   ever  converted,  I  will  preach  the  Gospel." 
Then  came  a  peace  of  soul  which  he  could  not  under- 
stand.    At  first  it  led  him  to  fear  he  had  grieved  the 
Spirit.     He  says  (page  18  ):  "  The  repose  of  my  mind 
was  unspeakably  great.     I  can  never  describe  it  in 
words.     The  thought  of  God  was  sweet;  the  most  pro- 
found spiritual  tranquillity  had  taken  full  possession 
of  me." 

Another  scene,  evincing  the  depth  and  power  of  his 


REVIVALS    ITNDER   FINNEY.  139 

feelings,  he  puts  thus  (page  19):  "  As  I  went  into  the 
office  alone  and  shut  the  door  after  me,  it  seemed  as 
if  I  met  the  Lord  Jesus  face  to  face.  It  did  not  occur 
to  me  then,  nor  did  it  for  some  time  afterward,  that  it 
was  wholly  a  mental  state.  On  the  contrary,  it  seem- 
ed to  me  that  I  saw  him  as  I  would  see  any  other  man. 
He  said  nothing,  hut  looked  at  me  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  break  me  right  down  at  his  feet.  I  have  always 
since  regarded  this  as  a  most  remarkable  state  of 
mind;  for  it  seemed  to  me  a  reality  that  he  stood  be- 
fore me,  and  I  fell  down  at  his  feet  and  poured  out 
my  soul  to  him.  I  wept  aloud  like  a  child;  I  made 
such  confessions  as  I  could  with  my  choked  utterance. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  I  bathed  his  feet  with  my  tears; 
and  yet  I  had  no  distinct  impression  that  I  touched 
him,  that  I  recollect." 

Closely  following  this  came  a  mighty  baptism  of 
the  Spirit,  of  which  he  says  (page  20):  "  Without  any 
expectation  of  it,  without  even  having  the  thought  in 
my  mind  that  there  was  any  such  thing  for  me,  with- 
out any  recollection  that  I  had  ever  heard  the  thing 
mentioned,  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  upon  me  in  a 
manner  that  seemed  to  go  through  me,  body  and  soul. 
I  could  feel  the  impression,  like  a  wave  of  electricity, 
going  through  and  through  me.  Indeed  it  seemed  to 
come  in  waves  and  waves  of  liquid  love;  for  I  could 
not  express  it  in  any  other  way.  It  seemed  like  the 
very  breath  of  God.  I  can  recollect  distinctly  that  it 
seemed  to  fan  me  like  immense  wings.  No  words 
can  express  the  wonderful  love  that  was  shed  abroad 
in  my  heart.     I  wept  aloud  with  joy  and  love." 

Certain  circumstances  suggested  to  his  mind  some 


140  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

doubt  as  to  the  nature  and  significance  of  this  baptism, 
but  another  recurrence  of  it  brought  his  soul  to  rest. 
"  When  I  awoke  (page  22)  in  the  morning,  the  sun 
had  risen  and  was  pouring  a  clear  light  into  my  room. 
Words  cannot  express  the  impression  that  this  sun- 
light made  upon  me.  Instantly  the  baptism  that  I 
had  received  the  night  before,  returned  upon  me.  I 
rose  upon  my  knees  in  the  bed  and  wept  aloud  with 
joy,  and  remained  for  some  time  too  much  over- 
whelmed with  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  to  do  any- 
thing but  pour  out  my  soul  to  God.  It  seemed  as 
if  this  morning's  baptism  was  accompanied  with  a 
gentle  reproof,  and  the  Spirit  seemed  to  say  to  me, 
'  Will  you  doubt?  Will  you  doubt? '  I  cried—'  No! 
I  will  not  doubt;  I  cannot  doubt!'  He  then  cleared 
the  subject  so  much  to  my  mind  that  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  me  to  doubt  that  the  Spirit  of  God  had  taken 
possession  of  my  soul." 

Then  followed  a  conscious  experience  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  presented  by  himself  in  these  words: 
"In  this  state  I  was  taught  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  as  a  present  experience.  I  had  never 
thought  of  it  distinctlv  as  a  fundamental  doctrine  of 
the  gospel,  nor  did  I  well  understand  its  proper 
meaning.  But  now  I  could  see  what  was  meant  by 
the  words,  '  Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace 
with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  1  could 
see  that  the  moment  I  believed,  while  up  in  the  woods, 
all  sense  of  condemnation  dropped  entirely  out  of  my 
mind.  From  that  moment  I  could  not  feel  a  sense  of 
guilt  or  condemnation  by  any  effort  that  I  could  make. 
My  sense  of  guilt  was  gone;  my  sins  were  gone;  and 


REVIVALS   UNDER    FINNEY.  141 

I  do  not  think  I  felt  any  more  sense  of  guilt  than  if  I 
had  never  sinned." 

Whoever  would  fathom  Mr.  Finney's  power  in  revi- 
vals, must  take  his  first  soundings  here,  in  his  expe- 
riences at  the  point  of  his  conversion.  To  know  him, 
we  must  know  his  heart — the  great  depth  and  intens- 
ity of  his  emotional  nature;  the  transparent  clearness 
of  his  apprehensions  of  God,  of  Christ,  and  of  the  Spirit, 
and  of  the  overwhelming  power  of  those  apprehensions 
upon  his  will — his  purposes  of  life,  his  whole  charac- 
ter. Whatever  may  be  thought  of  these  experiences 
as  an  average  model  and  standard  by  which  all  genuine 
conversions  are  to  be  estimated,  none  can  reasonably 
doubt  that  in  his  case  they  were  thoroughly  genuine 
and  honest,  penetrating  to  the  very  depths  of  his  soul 
and  transforming  his  heart  into  love  and  obedience 
to  God.  "  If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  cre- 
ation; old  things  have  passed  away;  all  things  have 
become  new."  This  doctrine  of  Paul  is  at  one  with 
both  his  own  experience  and  that  of  Mr.  Finney. 
With  both,  conversion  had  a  mighty  significance; 
opened  a  new  world  of  truth  to  the  mind's  eye;  a  new 
life  for  the  whole  activities  of  the  soul.  Paul  says  of 
himself:  "Immediately  I  conferred  not  with  flesh 
and  blood,  but  forthwith  preached  the  faith  I  once 
destroyed;"  and  even  so  Mr.  Finney;  his  unassuming 
narrative  shows  that  forthwith  he  laid  hold  of  men 
on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  to  "  save  them 
with  fear,  pulling  them  out  of  the  fire."  In  his  own 
words  (page  25):  "  I  soon  sallied  forth  from  the  office 
to  converse  with  those  I  should  meet  about  their 
souls.     I  had  the  impression,  which  has  never  left  my 


142  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

mind,  that  God  wanted  me  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
that  I  must  begin  immediately.  I  somehow  seemed 
to  know  it.  If  you  ask  me  how  I  knew  it,  I  cannot 
tell  how  I  knew  it  any  more  than  I  can  tell  how  I 
knew  it  was  the  love  of  God  and  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  that  I  had  received.  I  did  somehow 
know  it  with  a  certainty  that  was  past  all  possibility 
of  doubt,  and  so  I  seemed  to  know  that  the  Lord 
commissioned  me  to  preach  the  Gospel." 

In  his  characteristic  way  he  tells  us  how  he  closed 
off  his  law  business.  Dea.  B.  came  into  the  office 
and  said,  u  Mr.  Finney,  you  recollect  my  case  is  to 
be  tried  at  ten  o'clock  this  morning;  I  suppose  you 
are  ready."  (I  had  been  retained  as  his  attorney  on 
this  case.)  I  replied  to  him,  "  Dea.  B.,  I  have  a  re- 
tainer from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  plead  his  cause, 
and  I  cannot  plead  yours." 

Forthwith  he  began.  His  words  were  barbed  ar- 
rows sharp  and  fast  in  the  heart  of  the  King's  ene- 
mies. The  work  pervaded  the  village,  and  spread 
outward  in  every  direction  through  the  country. 

But  before  we  follow  the  track  of  his  evangelistic 
labors,  particular  attention  should  be  given  to  two 
points,  (a)  his  personal  experience  in  prayer;  (b)  the 
truths  he  preached  and  the  points  of  personal  duty 
which  he  impressed  upon  the  hearts  of  men. 

(a)  As  to  prayer,  let  us  recall  those  first  impres- 
sions which  he  received  when  he  stepped  into  prayer 
meetings  and  was  struck  with  the  difference  between 
the  amount  asked  for  and  the  amount  received. 
Manifestly  his  view  of  real  prayer  will  be  drawn,  not 
from  conventional  notions  or  usages,  but  from  the  re- 


REVIVALS   UNDER    FINNEY.  143 

vealed  promises  and  the  perfect  veracity  of  God. 
Hence  prayer  must  needs  have  with  him  a  very  great 
significance.  It  brought  him  face  to  face  with  God. 
It  meant  the  pleading  of  promise — an  asking  that 
grew  out  of  conscious  want  and  sought  the  promised 
supply.  How  it  brought  him  into  debate  with  God 
and  an  urgent  pleading  that  could  not  be  denied  may 
perhaps  be  put  best  in  his  own  words,  thus:  (p.  142) 
"  In  regard  to  rny  own  experience  I  will  say  that  un- 
less I  had  the  spirit  of  prayer  I  could  do  nothing.  If 
even  for  a  day  or  an  hour  I  lost  the  spirit  of  grace  and 
supplication,  I  found  myself  unable  to  preach  with 
power  and  efficiency  or  to  win  souls  by  personal  con- 
versation. In  this  respect  my  experience  was 
what  it  has  always  been.  For  several  weeks  be- 
fore I  left  De  Kalb  I  was  very  strongly  exer- 
cised in  prayer,  and  had  an  experience  that  was 
somewhat  new  to  me.  I  found  myself  so  much 
exercised  and  so  borne  down  with  the  weight  of  im- 
mortal souls  that  I  was  constrained  to  pray  without 
ceasing.  Some  of  my  experiences,  indeed,  alarmed 
me.  A  spirit  of  importunity  sometimes  came  upon 
me  so  that  I  would  say  to  God  that  he  had  made  a 
promise  to  answer  prayer,  and  I  could  not  and  would 
not  be  denied.  I  felt  so  certain  that  he  would  hear 
me,  and  that  faithfulness  to  his  promises  and  to  him- 
self rendered  it  impossible  that  he  should  not  hear 
me,  that  frequently  I  found  myself  saying  to  him,  '  I 
hope  thou  dost  not  think  that  I  can  be  denied.  I  come 
with  thy  faithful  promises  in  my  hand,  and  I  cannot  be 
denied.'  I  cannot  tell  how  absurd  unbelief  looked  to 
me,  and  how  certain  it  was,  in  my  mind,  that  God 


1  4:4  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

would  answer  prayer — those  prayers  which  from  day 
to  day  and  from  hour  to  hour  I  found  myself  offering 
in  such  agony  and  faith.  I  had  no  idea  of  the  shape 
the  answer  would  take,  the  locality  in  which  the 
prayers  would  be  answered,  or  the  exact  time  of  the 
answer.  My  impression  was  that  the  answer  was 
near,  even  at  the  door;  and  I  felt  myself  strength- 
ened in  the  divine  life,  put  on  the  harness  for  a 
mighty  conflict  with  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  ex- 
pected soon  to  see  a  far  more  powerful  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  in  that  new  country  where  I  had 
been  laboring."  It  should  also  be  said  that  a  spirit 
of  most  importunate  prayer  prevailed  extensively  in 
those  revivals.  In  some  instances  young  converts 
were  constrained  by  their  burdens  for  souls,  to  pray 
whole  nights,  and  until  their  bodily  strength  was 
quite  exhausted.     (See  page  141.) 

(b)  As  to  the  truths  he  preached  and  the  points 
made  most  prominent  and  pressed  most  earnestly, 
it  must  suffice  to  say:  He  justified  God's  ways 
and  condemned  the  sinner's.  He  preached  every- 
where that  men  must  repent,  or  perish;  must  accept 
Jesus,  or  be  lost.  He  found  men  abusing  the  doc- 
trine of  gracious  help  from  God  under  the  notion  that 
God  must  give  them  a  new  heart  before  they  could  re- 
pent, and  they  must  wait  till  he  did;  and  that  at  the 
utmost  they  could  do  nothing  more  or  better  than  to 
pray  for  God  to  do  his  antecedent  work.  According 
to  his  own  statements  (Autobiography,  p.  189),  "  In- 
stead of  telling  sinners  to  use  the  means  of  grace  and 
pray  for  a  new  heart,  we  called  on  them  to  make 
themselves  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit,  and  pressed 


.REVIVALS    U-NDER    FINXEY.  145 

the  duty  of  instant  surrender  to  God.  We  told  them 
the  Spirit  was  striving  with  them  to  induce  them  now 
to  give  him  their  hearts,  now  to  believe  and  to  enter 
at  once  upon  a  life  of  devotion  to  Christ,  of  faith  and 
love  and  Christian  obedience.  We  taught  them  that 
while  they  were  praying  for  the  Holy  Spirit,  they 
were  constantly  resisting  him;  and  that  if  they  would 
at  once  yield  to  their  own  convictions  of  duty  they 
would  be  Christians.  We  tried  to  show  them  that 
everything  they  did  or  said  before  they  had  sub- 
mitted, believed,  given  their  hearts  to  God,  was  all 
sin,  was  not  that  which  God  required  them  to  do,  but 
was  simply  deferring  repentance  and  resisting  the 
Holy  Ghost."  "  We  insisted  on  immediate  submis- 
sion as  the  only  thing  that  God  could  accept  at  their 
hands;  and  that  all  delay,  under  any  pretext  what- 
ever, is  rebellion  against  God.  Under  this  teaching 
it  was  very  common  for  persons  to  be  convicted  and 
converted  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  and  sometimes 
in  a  few  minutes"  (p.  190). 

If  space  could  be  afforded  here,  it  would  throw  a 
flood  of  light  upon  the  great  spiritual  forces  in  these 
revivals  to  present  fully  his  way  of  putting  the  great 
themes  of  gospel  truth.  "  Few  preachers  in  any  age 
have  surpassed  Pres.  Finney  in  clear  and  well-defined 
views  of  conscience  and  of  man's  moral  convictions; 
few  have  been  more  fully  at  home  in  the  domain  of 
law  and  government;  few^have  learned  more  of  the 
spiritual  life  from  experience  and  from  observation; 
not  many  have  discriminated  the  true  from  the  false 
more  closely,  or  have  been  more  skillful  in  putting 
their  points  clearly  and  pungently."     A  volume  of 


146  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

sermons  reported  from  his  lips,  and  subsequently  in- 
dorsed by  himself,  entitled,  "  Gospel  Themes"  (Ober- 
lin:  E.  P.  Goodrich,  publisher,  1876),  will  give  the 
reader  a  just  view  of  what  he  preached;  how  he  put 
his  points;  how  he  made  them  clear  by  statement 
and  illustration,  and  then,  by  most  impassioned  per- 
sonal appeal,  pressed  them  home  upon  the  heart  and 
the  conscience. 

We  resume  our  narrative.  In  the  Spring  of  1822, 
Mr.  Finney  put  himself  under  the  care  of  Presby- 
tery as  a  student  of  theology,  and  was  placed  under 
the  special  direction  of  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Gale,  then  pas- . 
tor  of  the  church  in  Adams.  His  narrative  shows, 
however,  that  the  Bible  became  the  fountain  of  his 
theology,  and  that  his  studies  were  guided  by  the  in- 
tuitions of  his  own  mind  and  the  wisdom  he  sought 
constantly  and  fervently  from  above.  After  two 
years  Presbytery  gave  him  their  license  to  preach. 
With  modest  views  of  his  attainments,  he  remarks  in 
substance  (p.  61),  "  Having  had  no  regular  training  for 
the  ministry,  I  did  not  expect  or  desire  to  labor  in 
large  towns  or  cities,  or  minister  to  cultivated  con- 
gregations. I  therefore  took  a  commission  from  a 
Female  Missionary  Society  of  Oneida  county  and 
went  into  the  new  settlements  in  the  North  part  of 
Jefferson  county."  Everywhere  he  preached  the  word 
with  boldness;  everywhere  the  word  preached  was 
with  power.  It  is  utterly  impossible  by  any  general 
statements  to  give  the  reader  the  same  vivid  concep- 
tion of  the  results  which  he  would  get  from  the 
preacher's  own  graphic  and  often  minute  narrative. 
The   first  case  is  perhaps  as  good  for  a  specimen   as 


REVIVALS    UNDER   FINNEY.  147 

any— that  at  Evans'  Mills.  Think  of  him  in  a  stone 
school-house  filled  with  people,  among  them  the 
merest  sprinkling  of  professed  Christians.  After  a 
few  sermons,  but  no  such  fruits  as  he  sought,  he 
brought  one  meeting  to  a  close  by  saying,  in  sub- 
stance: "  You  compliment  my  preaching,  but  you  do 
not  turn  from  your  sins.  I  came  here,  not  to  amuse 
you,  but  to  save  your  souls.  I  cannot  spend  my  time 
here  unless  you  will  receive  the  gospel.  Now  deal 
truly  with  me  and  my  Master.  If  ye  will  receive 
God's  message  through  me,  tell  me,,  and  I  stay;  if 
not,  tell  me,  and  I  go.  I  must  have  your  decision. 
If  aye,  then  rise;  if  nay,  keep  your  seats."  All  re- 
mained sitting,  as  he  expected.  Then,  after  looking 
round  upon  them  a  few  moments,  he  said:  "  You  are 
committed;  you  have  taken  your  stand;  God  is  wit- 
ness; you  reject  Christ  and  his  gospel."  They  began 
to  look  angry,  and  rising,  started  for  the  door.  He 
said,  "I  am  sorry  for  you;  the  Lord  willing,  I  will 
preach  to-morrow  evening." 

There  was  no  small  stir  in  that  place.  At  first, 
many  were  deeply  offended;  some  cursed  the  preach- 
er; said  he  had  got  them  under  an  oath  not  to  be- 
come Christians.  But  they  came  once  more;  packed 
the  house;  he  opened  upon  them  from  these  words: 
"  Say  ye  to  the  righteous,  it  shall  be  well  with  him ; 
for  they  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings.  Wo  to  the 
wicked;  it  shall  be  ill  with  him;  for  the  reward  of 
his  hands  shall  be  given  him."  "  The  Spirit  of  God 
came  upon  -me  with  such  power  that  it  was  like  open- 
ing a  battery  upon  them.  For  more  than  an  hour, 
and  perhaps  an  hour  and  a  half,  the  Word  of  God 


M8  TIMES   OF  REFRESHING. 

came  through  me  to  them  in  a  manner  that  I  could  see 
was  carrying  all  before  it.  It  was  a  fire  and  a  ham- 
mer breaking  the  rock;  and  as  a  sword  piercing  to 
the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit.  I  saw  that  a 
general  conviction  was  spreading  over  the  whole  con- 
gregation. Many  of  them  could  not  hold  up  their 
heads."  During  the  ensuing  night,  he  was  sent  for 
several  times  to  visit  persons  under  awful  distress  of 
mind.  The  great  power  of  God  swept  through  the 
community. 

His  own  published  narrative  sketches  vividly  his 
labors,  first  in  those  new  settlements  in  Northern 
New  York;  thence  onward  into  Oneida  Co.,  at  West- 
ern, Home  and  Utica;  then  westward  to  Rochester  in 
1830-31  where  the  city,  then  of  ten  thousand  peo- 
ple, was  profoundly  moved,  and  the  converts  were  es- 
timated at  eight  hundred.  He  labored  there  again  in 
1842  when  one  thousand  were  converted;  and  again, 
in  1856  when  nearly  another  thousand  were  added  to 
the  Lord.  The  work  in  this  city  received  a  great  im- 
pulse from  a  course  of  sermons  preached  to  men  in  the 
legal  profession,  great  numbers  of  whom  were  con- 
verted. 

"Worn  down  with  his  protracted  labors  in  Rochester; 
he  journeyed  East,  and  stopped  at  Auburn  to  rest 
awhile.  The  awakened  people  could  not  let  him  rest. 
Restricting  himself  rigidly  to  less  than  half  his  ac- 
customed work,  he  preached  there  six  weeks.  The 
converts  were  estimated  at  five  hundred.  He  labored 
in  many  other  cities,  Philadelphia,  Reading,  Boston 
and  Providence;  in  New  York  City  from  1832  to 
1835,  where  he  became  pastor  of  a   church  worship- 


REVIVALS    UNDER    FINNEY.  149 

ing  in  Chatham  St.  Chapel,  removing  ultimately  into 
Broadway  Tabernacle.  In  June,  1 835,  he  removed  to 
Oberlin;  taught  in  the  Theological  Department,  and 
preached  as  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church  till  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  During  this 
period  he  spent  several  winter  vacations  elsewhere 
in  Evangelistic  labors,  especi  ally  in  Rochester  and 
Boston.  Twice  he  visited  England,  viz.,  in  the 
autumn  of  1849,  and  again  in  December,  1858;  re- 
maining about  one  year  and  a  half  on  each  visit.  In 
England  as  well  as  in  America,  his  preaching  was 
with  power  and  many  were  turned  to  the  Lord. 

An  inside  view  of  his  revival  work  as  developed  in 
Rochester  has  been  well  fgiven  by  Rev.  Dr.  Charles 
P.  Bush,  in  a  paper  prepared  for  the  memorial  day 
devoted  to  reminiscences  of  Prof.  Finney  at  the  com- 
mencement next  following  his  decease.  The  extracts 
below  are  in  point.  "  At  first  his  preaching  was  ad- 
dressed almost  exclusively  to  professors  of  religion, 
with  hardly  a  word  to  the  impenitent;  but  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  Christian  life  were 
so  portrayed  as  absolutely  to  amaze  and  frighten  the 
cold  and  backslidden  professor.  The  sins  of  worldli- 
ness,  lukewarmness,  and  neglect  of  duty  were  set  in 
startling  colors.  There  was  indeed  something  fearful 
in  those  sermons,  so  searching,  scorching,  withering; 
and  yet  no  one  could  find  fault  with  them,  for  they 
were  drawn  directly  from  the  Word  of  God.  He 
had  a  'Thus  saith  the  Lord'  for  every  statement; 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  was  evidently  attending  every 
word  spoken  and  carrying  conviction  to  every  mind. 
Indeed  the  very  atmosphere  of  the  place  seemed  sur- 


150  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

charged  with  the  solemnity  of  eternity;  and  there 
was  in  the  speaker  the  dignity  and  majesty  of  one  of 
the  old  prophets.  His  words  were  like  names  of  fire. 
False  hopes  were  consumed  like  tow  by  their  touch. 
Backsliders  were  brought  trembling  and  astonished 
to  the  feet  of  the  Savior  to  ask  for  mercy.  Recon- 
ciliations were  effected  among  estranged  brethren. 
Confessions,  sad  and  pitiable,  fell  from  penitent  lips. 
Forgiveness  was  sought  and  found  at  the  mercy-seat; 
all  were  melted  together  in  love  and  new  consecration 
to  the  Master  *  *  *  The  church  being  thus  shaken 
as  by  an  earthquake,  and  Christians  aroused  to 
pray  fervently  for  God's  blessing,  Mr.  Finney 
was  prepared  to  preach  to  sinners.  He  be- 
gan with  the  law,  showing  what  its  require- 
ments are,  what  its  penalties,  and  how  just  they 
are,  how  absolutely  necessary  to  the  order  and  sta- 
bility of  the  universe;  how  even  the  law  itself,  as 
really  as  the  Gospel,  demonstrates  the  goodness  of 
the  divine  Being;  and  therefore  how  fearful  a  thing 
it  must  be  to  sin  against  such  a  lawgiver  and  against 
all  the  interests  of  the  universe. 

"There  was  something  fearful  in  those  sermons  also. 
Indeed,  it  almost  makes  one  shudder,  even  after  this 
lapse  of  years,  to  recall  some  of  them,  that  especially 
from  the  text:  'The  wages  of  sin  is  death.'  The 
preacher's  imagination  was  as  vivid  as  his  logic  was 
inexorable.  After  laying  down  self-evident  princi- 
ples of  human  nature  and  of  divine  government,  then 
drawing  out  scripture  truth  touching  the  same,  mak- 
ing all  plain  and  irresistible  by  argument  and  illustra- 
tion,   how    he    rung     the    charges    on     that    word 


REVIVALS    UNDER   FINNEY.  151 

*  wages'  as  he  described  the  condition  of  the  lost 
soul.  '  Yon  will  get  your  wages;  just  what  you  have 
earned,  your  due;  nothing  more,  nothing  less;  and  as 
the  smoke  of  your  torment,  like  a  thick  cloud,  ascends 
forever  and  ever,  you  will  see  written  upon  its  curl- 
ing folds  in  great  staring  letters  of  light,  this  awful 
word  wages,  wages,  wages!' 

"As  the  preacher  uttered  this  sentence  he  stood  at 
his  full  height,  tall  and  majestic — stood  as  if  trans- 
fixed— gazing,  and  pointing  toward  the  emblazoned 
cloud  as  it  seemed  to  roll  up  before  him;  his  shrill, 
clear  voice  rising  to  its  highest  pitch  and  penetrating 
every  nook  and  corner  of  the  vast  assembly.  People 
held  their  breath.  Every  heart  stood  still.  It  was  al- 
most enough  to  raise  the  dead;  there  were  no  sleepers 
within  the  sound  of  that  clarion  voice.  And  yet  that 
same  mighty  man,  when  speaking  of  the  love  of  Christ 
or  the  peril  of  a  soul  in  its  sins,  was  as  great  in  ten- 
derness and  pity  as  before  in  majesty  and  truth;  him- 
self moved  to  tears  and  entreaties  enough  to  break  a 
heart  of  stone.  Many  seem  to  think  of  him  only  as 
the  stern,  uncompromising  preacher  of  righteousness. 
He  was  that,  and  more  also — a  Paul  in  doctrine,  but 
touching  and  tender  as  John  himself  in  his  delinea- 
tions of  divine  love.  But  he  did  not  preach  love  as 
a  mere  instinct,  or  a  weak,  mawkish,  and  indiscrim- 
inating  sentiment.  His  God  was  not  all  pity;  but 
was  also  a  God  of  majesty  and  of  law  and  of  justice; 
his  love  all  the  more  glorious  because  intelligent,  and 
because  it  saves  from  wrath  deserved." 

Of  results  estimated  by  numbers,  the  paper  stated 
that  during  that  year  (1831),  over  twelve  hundred 


152  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

new  members  were  added  to  the  churches  of 
Rochester  presbytery  alone,  besides  the  great  in- 
gathering on  the  same  field  into  churches  of  other 
denominations.  "But  the  grandeur  of  that  work  is 
not  to  be  estimated  by  numbers  alone.  The  whole 
community  was  stirred.  Religion  was  the  one  topic 
of  conversation,  in  the  house,  in  the  shop,  in  the 
office,  on  the  street.  The  soul's  interests  were  upper- 
most in  all  minds.  God  was  near,  eternity  real;  the 
judgment  sure." 

"  It  is  worthy  of  special  notice  that  a  large  number 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  place  were  among  the  con- 
verts— the  lawyers,  the  judges,  physicians,  merchants, 
bankers,  and  master  mechanics.  From  the  first  these 
classes  were  more  moved  than  any  other.  Tall  oaks 
were  bowed  as  by  the  blast  of  the  hurricane.  Skeptics 
and  scoffers  were  brought  in,  and  a  large  number  of 
the  most  promising  of  the  young  men.  It  is  said 
that  no  less  than  forty  of  them  entered  the  ministry.' ' 

Treating  of  his  personal  characteristics,  Dr.  B. 
admits  that  he  "had  his  peculiarities — what  great  man 
has  not?  But  he  was  never  accused  of  levity  or  in- 
sincerity. He  was  a  plain,  blunt  man  who  spoke 
right  on,  and  always  meant  just  what  he  said.  His 
soul  abhorred  deceit  and  hypocrisy.  Perhaps  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  th  at  he  saw  the  truth  in  greater 
clearness,  and  more  fully  appreciated  its  value  and 
importance  than  most  men  could.  He  was,  in  fact,  a 
giant  in  intellect,  in  the  grandeur  of  his  thoughts 
and  purposes  and  in  the  sublime  force  of  his  char- 
acter; and  this  was  enough  to  justify  some  of  his 
peculiarities.     *      *     Before  his    conversion  he  re- 


REVIVALS   UNDER   FINNEY.  153 

marked  to  an  Elder  of  the  Church  that  <  Christians 
generally  did  not  half  believe  what  they  professed.'  " 
1  If  ever  I  become  a  Christian,'  he  said,  I  shall  go 
into  it  with  all  my  might,'  and  he  did.  That  is,  he 
went  to  work  as  though  he  really  believed  that  God 
had  a  right  to  all  his  powers;  as  though  men  around 
him  were  really  sinners,  going  down  to  death  eternal ; 
and  as  though  something  ought  to  be  done  for  their 
salvation.  Hence,  like  Paul,  he  began  at  once  to 
'warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears;'  and  with 
the  Bible  in  his  hand  he  could  not  see  why  this  was 
not  the  proper  thing  to  do." 

"  As   to  his  manner    and   style  of  preaching,  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  he  introduced  a  new  era, 
the   era  of  simplicity,   directness,   and   earnestness; 
looking  for  definite  and  immediate  results.     He  dis- 
carded technical  terms  and  talked   to  the   people  so 
that  they  knew  he  meant  them  and  was  talking  about 
their  interests;  and    that  they    were  guilty  and  in 
danger,  and  had  something  to  do  to  escape  the  wrath 
to  come."     He  tried  to  adapt  his  instructions  to  the 
times.     Like  John  the  Baptist,   he  came  preaching 
repentance.     The  notion  prevailed  somewhat,  at  that 
time,  that  sin  is  more   a   misfortune  than  a  fault;  it 
is. inherited;  it  comes  with  our  blood,  and  we  can  not 
help  it.     On  the  contrary,    Mr.  Finney  from  the  first 
preached  "O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself" — 
showing  that  sinners  are  the  guilty  authors  of  their 
own  destruction;  not  the  innocent  victims  of  a  terri- 
ble calamity.     Here  he   explained  the  nature  of  sin 
as  a  transgression  of  the  law;  rebellion  against  divine 
authority;  the  foolish,  wicked  choice  of  our  own  way 
in  preference  to  God's  way. 


154  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

A  few  words  should  aj:)pear  as  to  Pres.  Finney  in 
Oberlin,  i.  e.,  from  1835  onward  to  bis  death.  Of 
the  first  score  of  years,  his  narrative  (p.  348)  bears 
this  testimony:  "  During  these  years  of  smoke  and 
dust,  of  misapprehension  and  opposition  from  with- 
out, the  Lord  was  blessing  us  richly  within.  We  not 
only  prospered  in  our  own  souls  here,  as  a  church,  but 
we  had  a  continuous  revival,  or  were  in  what  might 
properly  be  regarded  as  a  revival  state.  Our  students 
were  converted  by  the  scores;  and  the  Lord  over- 
shadowed us  continually  with  the  cloud  of  his  mercy. 
Gales  of  divine  influence  swept  over  us  from  year 
to  year,  producing  abundantly  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit, — love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness 
goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance." 

This  sketch  may  be  closed  fitly  by  testimony 
from  one  who  during  forty  years  stood  in  most  inti- 
mate relations  with  Pres.  Finney,  associated  with 
him  in  the  pulpit,  in  prayer  and  inquiry  meetings, 
and  especially  as  a  listener  in  the  pew.  He  puts  the 
salient  points  of  his  revival  labors  thus: 

1.  Prayer  in  order  before  preaching;  prayer  for 
special  help  from  God  before  any  direct  effort  to  con- 
vert sinners.  This  means  and  implies  both  his  own 
personal  prayer,  pleading  with  God,  and  taking  hold 
of  his  promises  for  special  blessings;  and  also  bring- 
ing to  his  help  as  many  others  as  possible;  laboring 
to  revive  the  church,  renew  its  spiritual  life,  beget 
true  devotion  to  gospel  work  and  the  spirit  of  pre- 
vailing prayer. 

2.  Conviction  before  conversion.  No  hope  of  lead- 
ing sinners  to  their  Savior,   and  no   effort   for  it  till 


REVIVALS    UNDER    FINNEY.  155 

they  both  see  and  feel  themselves  sinners.  Hence 
his  order  of  topics  in  preaching  would  always  be, 
first,  the  law;  then,  the  gospel;  first,  to  beget  a  sense 
of  guilt  and  of  conscious  need  of  Christ;  then,  hope- 
fully, Christ  will  be  welcome  for  what  he  is. 

3.  A  knowledge  of  human  hearts  that  seemed  to 
miss  nothing.  You  would  suppose  he  had  seen  a 
thousand  human  hearts  dissected,  from  circumference 
to  centre;  had  observed  and  studied  till  he  knew  all 
their  secrets,  could  track  out  every  winding,  fathom 
every  great  deep.  His  eye,  moreover,  was  keen,  and 
took  in  with  astonishing  precision  the  general  im- 
pression and  ruling  thought  of  a  congregation.  He 
knew  if  the  truth  was  taking  effect,  he  felt  the  reac- 
tion upon  himself  when  his  words  had  power  upon 
the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  If  the  masses  were  moved, 
like  the  trees  by  the  mighty  wind,  he  saw  it,  and 
could  judge  when  it  was  wise  to  call  for  a  public  ex- 
pression of  personal  decision.  I  have  seen  him  call 
for  such  expression  many  scores  of  times,  and  have 
never  known  him  to  misjudge  as  to  the  fact  of  a  deep 
and  general  impression. 

4.  The  fruits  of  revivals  under  his  labors  have  rare- 
ly been  superficial.  True,  all  human  work  in  the 
gospel  ministry  will  have,  on  its  human  side,  defects; 
bat  in  the  main  the  converts  under  his  preaching 
have  run  well,  have  lived  Christian  lives,  and  endured 
to  the  end.  During  the  last  hundred  years  few 
preachers,  if  any  have  swept  away  so  many  false 
hopes  and  helped  so  many  to  build  again,  not 
on  the  sand,  but  on  the  rock.  No  man's  preaching 
has  borne  such  fruits  in  confession  of  hidden  sins,  in 


156  TIMES    OF  REFRESHING. 

restitution  under  the  law  of  love  to  one's  neighbor, 
in  profound  heart-searching,  and  astounding  dis- 
closures ot  things  before  kuown  to  God  only.  No 
sham  morality,  no  shallow  and  soft  sentimentalising 
would  he  ever  allow  himself  to  baptize  as  genteel  and 
current  Christianity.  A  system  of  gospel  preaching 
and  labor  which  so  signally  honored  the  Spirit  of  God; 
which  so  judiciously  unfolded  and  mightily  enforced 
the  most  fundamental  gospel  truths,  has  been  hon- 
ored of  God  to  results  enduring  and  glorious. 


CHAPTER  TIL 

REVIVALS  OF  1857-8. 

In  various  results  of  human  history  it  is  often  very 
difficult  to  distinguish  between  the  human  agency  and 
the  Divine  energy,  so  subtly  does  God  work  through  in- 
strumentalities, and  so  often  does  he  hide  his  hand  un- 
der the  glove  of  a  human  activity.  This  is  especially  true 
of  revivals  of  religion.  God  is  the  center  of  every  revi- 
val. But  to  carry  it  forward,  his  church  is  ordained. 
Sometimes  his  stately  steppings  can  be  plainly  seen 
amid  the  worship  and  organization  and  endeavors  of 
the  church;  at  other  times  he  condescends  to  let  hu- 
man energy  and  counsel  stand  more  prominently  forth. 
Thus  there  have  been  many  revivals  that  are  forever 
linked  with  the  names  of  men  around  whom  they 
seemed  to  gather.  A  human  name  stands  at  the  head 
of  a  Divine  epoch.  Augustine  ushers  in  one  era,  and 
Luther  another,  and  Whitefield  and  the  Wesleys  an- 
other. At  the  head  of  almost  every  chapter  in  the 
revival  history  of  this  country  we  may  write  some 
name  honored  of  God,  to  mark  with  his  personality 
the  resistless  activity  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  we 
come  now  to  speak  of  a  revival,  that  more  than  any 
other  in  our  land,  came  without  a  human  herald,  a 
revival  without  revivalist  or  evangelist,  without  pre- 
arranged plan  or  purpose;  a  revival  that  came  from 


158  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING 

God  as  the  dews  fall  from  heaven,  silently,  invisibly, 
but  everywhere  refreshing.  God  spoke  in  a  great 
national  Providence,  and  men  from  their  shops  and 
offices,  and  markets,  came  out  to  hear. 

The  early  revivals  in  this  country  were  revivals  of 
gospel  preaching,  of  the  pungency  of  the  truths  of 
man's  sin  and  God's  justice  boldly  and  sharply  pro- 
claimed. The  present  revivals  are  revivals  of  Christ- 
ologieal  preaching,  and  world-wide  organization. 
But  that  of  which  we  are  now  speaking  was,  above  all 
others,  a  Providential  revival.  God  prepared  the  na- 
tion for  it,  not  through  the  unveiling  of  great  truths 
of  redemption,  or  through  the  pressure  of  human  sym- 
pathy and  personal  effort,  but  by  such  a  conduct  of 
national  affairs  as  led  in  every  heart  to  a  cry  to  the 
God  of  Providence  for  relief  from  distress,  and  moral 
help  to  bear  unusual  burdens. 

The  national  condition  before  1857  is  still  well  re- 
membered. It  was  a  time  of  reckless  expenditures, 
of  unparalleled  fever  for  riches  without  much  consid- 
eration of  how  they  were  obtained,  of  apathetic  con- 
science and  wakeful  selfishness,  of  coldness  and 
deadness  in  the  church  and  alarming  godlessness  out- 
side of  it.  The  nation  seemed  drifting  in  the  same 
direction  in  which  it  had  gone  before  the  great  reviv- 
als of  1800.  Skepticism,  both  speculative  and  practi- 
cal, pervaded  all  ranks  of  society.  We  were  becoming 
a  people  without  God  in  the  world.  But  in  his  Prov- 
idence the  greed  for  gain  was  preparing  its  own  rem- 
edy. A  financial  crash  that  shook  all  the  monetary 
centers  of  the  world  fell  upon  us  on  the  14th  of  Octo- 
ber,   1857.      Fortunes   unaccountably  vanished   into 


REVIVALS  OF  1857-58.  159 

thiii  air.  The  solid  business  firms,  as  well  as  the  air- 
built  houses  of  the  speculator,  trembled  to  their  fall. 
The  result  of  the  long  course  of  dishonesty  came  sud- 
denly and  terribly.  The  very  foundations  seemed 
giving  way.  Men  looked  in  each  other's  faces  and 
wondered,  what  next.  Every  class  was  affected.  No- 
body dared  stir.  Public  confidence  was  swept  away. 
It  lay  amid  the  ruins  of  the  monetary  system  and  the 
business  industries  of  the  country.  On  every  hand 
there  was  a  certain,  fearful  looking  for — men  knew 
not  what.  In  that  bewildering  pause,  that  seemed  to 
herald  the  crashing  of  a  wilder  storm,  God  came  sud- 
denly to  his  temple,  came  to  every  place,  came  with 
overwhelming  spiritual  power.  Everywhere  men 
began  to  pray.  They  had  no  words  for  each  other. 
They  had  reached  the  ultimate  of  human  resources. 
Almost  unconsciously  they  began  to  cry  unto  God, 
unknown  to  each  other,  without  concert  of  effort  or 
thought.  East  and  West,  North  and  South,  the  peo- 
ple thronged  churches  and  halls  for  prayer,  and  waited 
on  God  to  solve  the  perplexing  and  prostrating  prob- 
lem of  the  hour. 

Let  us  follow  briefly  the  white  lines  of  this  national 
wave  of  prayer.  In  New  York  the  first  ray  of  light 
that  fell  athwart  the  general  gloom  came  into  the  heart 
of  a  down-town  missionary  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch) 
Church.  His  work  was  not  on  Wall  street  or  Broad- 
way. He  wTas  unknown  on  those  thoroughfares, 
crowded  with  the  excited  and  desperate  throng  of 
men  trembling  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy  or 
whelmed  under  the  ruins  of  their  accumulations. 
He  was  a  missionary  among    the   poor  and  outcast. 


160  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

But  God,  one  day,  when  lie  would  bring  salvation 
to  a  nation,  sent  a  great  and  noble  thought  to  Mr. 
Lanphier's  heart.  Could  not  something  be  done  for 
the  distressed  business  interests  of  the  well-nigh 
paralyzed  city?  Might  not  prayer  point  the  way  out 
of  the  general  distrust  and  panic,  or,  if  not,  might  not 
prayer  sustain  men  under  burdens  inevitable,  and 
amid  confusion  inextricable?  He  proposed  a  busi- 
ness men's  prayer  meeting.  The  idea  was  coldly 
met.  But  an  inspiration  from  God  need  not  court 
the  earthly  element  of  success.  There  were  three 
persons  in  the  first  business  men's  prayer  meeting, 
in  a  little  room  in  the  old  Dutch  Church  on  Fulton 
street.  And  that  place  and  that  hour  were  the  visi- 
ble beginning  of  the  great  revivals  of  1857-8.  "The 
next  meeting  was  composed  of  six  persons.  The 
next  of  twenty  persons.  The  next  meeting  was  held 
in  the  middle  room  on  the  second  floor,  and  now  on 
every  "Wednesday  noon  the  Business  Men's  Prayer 
meeting  attracted  increasing  numbers.  Its  striking 
fitness  and  evident  usefulness  were  noticed  in  the 
newspaperSs  secular  and  religious,  and  the  suggestion 
was  earnestly  made  that  it  should  be  opened  every 
day  instead  of  weekly.  This  was  promptly  done,  and 
the  meeting  room  overflowed  and  filled  a  second,  and 
eventually  a  third  room  in  the  same  building;  mak- 
ing three  crowded  prayer  meetings,  one  above  another, 
in  animated  progress  at  one  and  the  same  hour.  The 
seats  were  all  filled,  and  the  passages  and  entrances 
began  to  be  choked  with  numbers,  rendering  it 
scarcely  possible  to  pass  in  or  out.  The  hundreds 
who   daily   went   away    disappointed   of  admission, 


REVIVALS  OF  1857-58.  161 

created  a  visible  demand  for  more  room,  and  the 
John  Street  Methodist  Church  and  lecture-room 
were  both  opened  for  daily  noon  prayer  meetings,  by 
a  committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, and  were  crowded  at  once  with  attendants." 

It  was  at  one  of  the  first  of  these  meetings  that  a 
business  man,  doubtless  representing  in  the  spirit  of 
his  remarks  a  great  multitude,  said:  "Prayer  never 
was  so  great  a  blessing  to  me  as  it  is  in  this  time.  I 
should  certainly  either  break  down  or  turn  rascal, 
except  for  it!  When  one  sees  his  property  taken 
from  him  every  day,  by  those  who  might  pay  him  if 
they  were  willing  to  make  sacrifices  in  order  to  do  it, 
but  who  will  not  make  the  least  effort,  even  for  this 
end,  and  by  some  who  seem  designedly  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  times,  in  order  to  defraud  him — and 
when  he  himself  is  liable  to  the  keenest  reproaches 
from  others  if  he  does  not  pay  money,  which  he 
cannot  collect  and  cannot  create — the  temptation  is 
tremendous  to  forget  Christian  charity,  and  be  as 
hard  and  unmerciful  as  anybody.  If  I  could  not  get 
some  half  hours  every  day  to  pray  myself  into  a  right 
state  of  mind,  I  should  certainly  either  be  overbur- 
dened and  disheartened,  or  do  such  things  as  no 
Christian  man  ought." 

It  was  the  depth  and  general  character  of  the  con- 
viction thus  expressed  that  made  the  noon  prayer 
meeting  such  a  constantly  increasing  success.  It 
operated  to  produce  a  revival  of  religion,  but  it  also 
had  a  direct  effect  in  arresting  the  panic  and  restor- 
ing better  times.  When  men,  who  had  cynically 
come  to  distrust  the  whole  business  world,  met  each 


162  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

other  in  a  prayer  meeting,  heard  each  other's  appeals 
to  heaven  for  pardon,  grace  and  wisdom ;  and  when 
they  could  counsel  one  another  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  God  himself,  gradually  the  universal  dis- 
trust yielded  to  a  feeling  of  common  brotherhood,  and 
that  grew  into  confidence  and  a  spirit  of  mutual  for- 
bearance and  helpfulness.  So  the  noon-day  meeting, 
standing  in  the  very  middle  of  every  fevered  day  as  a 
great  argument  for  sympathy  and  help,  prepared  the 
way  for  the  recovery  of  the  nation  from  her  financial 
and  business  prostration ;  while  more  and  more  every 
week  it  became  the  scene  of  marvelous  displays  of 
divine  power  in  the  salvation  of  souls. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  Fulton  Street  meeting  as 
the  visible  beginning  of  the  revivals.  A  close  obser- 
vation will  disclose  the  fact  that  there  were  many 
signs  of  a  gracious  Divine  presence  hovering  over 
the  land.  Prominent  among  these  is  to  be  men- 
tioned the  enterprise  of  "  systematic  visitation"  in 
New  York,  Brooklyn  and  other  cities.  The  feeling 
that  something  must  be  done  for  the  poor  and  neg- 
lected, and  that  the  ordinances  of  God's  house  must 
be  more  earnestly  sought  by  both  rich  and  poor,  took 
a  strong  hold  on  those  churches  that  were  not  wholly 
immersed  in  worldliness  and  spiritual  indifference. 
Accordingly,  by  a  systematic  plan,  an  attempt  was 
made  by  churches  of  various  denominations  to  visit 
every  house,  ascertain  the  religious  condition  of  every 
family,  and  seek  to  induce  a  more  general  attendance 
upon  church  and  Sunday  school  services.  This  gen- 
eral visitation  was  no  doubt  one  of  the  signs  of  the 
Spirit's  presence  and  one  of  the  preparations  for  the 
coming  of  the  Lord.     Dr.  Conant  says  of  it: 


revivals  of  1867-58.  163 

"Gradually  this  scheme  of  visitation  was  extended 
so  as  to  include  the  respectable  and  fashionable 
streets,  as  well  as  the  '  highways  and  hedges,'  until 
finally  no  '  passover '  was  written  even  on  a  brown- 
stone  front,  and  Fifth  avenue  itself  was  not  left  to  be 
exempt.  And  from  the  reports  that  have  been  pre- 
sented, the  result  of  these  efforts,  as  seen  among  the 
higher  classes  of  society,  have  been  of  equal  interest 
with  those  in  the  lower.  The  number  of  rich  people 
who  were  found  never  to  attend  any  church  was 
enormous." 

Another  sign  of  the  dawning  day  was  Sunday  school 
conventions,  then  just  beginning  to  be  held,  at  which 
were  discussed  not  only  the  best  methods  for  making 
Sunday  school  exercises  attractive,  but  also  how  most 
effectively  to  reach  the  hearts,  rouse  the  consciences, 
and  save  the  souls  of  the  children.  The  church  was 
beginning  to  realize — a  truth  which  the  twenty  sub- 
sequent years  have  made  sharper  and  clearer — 
that  if  this  country  is  to  be  taken  for  Christ,  the  de- 
cisive battle  must  be  fought  in  the  nursery  and  the 
Sunday  school.  The  church  understood,  in  its 
noblest  import,  the  sentiment  of  John  Kuskin,  that 
not  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  smoothed  rifle  or  the 
knitted  gun,  but  out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and 
sucklings,  is  ordained  the  strength  that  shall  still  the 
enemy  and  the  avenger. 

Still  further,  there  were  held,  here  and  there 
through  the  country,  revival  conventions,  which  had 
much  to  do  with  the  rise  and  continuance  of  the  re- 
vival. Such  a  convention  was  held  in  Pittsburgh 
in    the    autumn   of    1857.      It    continued   in    ses- 


164:  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

sion  for  three  days  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
the  necessity  of  a  general  revival  in  all  the  churches. 
Among  other  plans,  it  designated  the  first  Sabbath  of 
January  for  the  preaching  of  sermons  on  the  need  of 
revivals  in  the  church.  A  general  compliance  with 
this  recommendation  doubtless  had  much  to  do  with 
the  beginning  of  the  general  work  of  grace.  Another 
convention  was  held  in  Cincinnati.  It  was  also 
largely  attended  and  doubtless  tended  powerfully  to 
the  one  general  result  which  was  now  beginning  to 
be  the  burden  of  prayer  everywhere. 

But  while  a  thoughtful  observer  might  have  no- 
ticed, in  these  and  other  signs,  the  dawning  of  the  light, 
the  general  fact  written  above,  that  the  revival  burst 
on  the  world  as  a  great  revival  of  prayer,  will  always 
remain  the  most  obtrusive  and  glorious  truth  regard- 
ing it.  Let  us  follow  further  that  universal  prayer- 
meeting. 

The  Fulton-street  meeting  soon  overflowed  the 
capacity  of  the  audience  room.  Then  other  places 
were  opened  for  prayer.  Burton's  old  theatre  in 
Chambers  street,  at  that  time  one  of  the  most  popular 
resorts  for  the  lovers  of  pleasure,  was  thrown  open  at 
mid-day  for  prayer  and  crowded  with  a  solemn  as- 
sembly. No  theatrical  entertainment  in  New  York 
ever  drew  together  such  immense  throngs.  The  au- 
dience is  thus  described: 

"  Half  an  hour  before  the  time  appointed  for  be- 
ginning the  exercises,  the  house  was  packed  in  every 
corner  from  the  pit  to  the  roof.  By  noon,  the  entrances 
to  the  hall  were  so  densely  thronged  that  it  required 
great  exertions  to  get  within  hearing  distance,  and 


revivals  of  1857-58.  165 

no  amount  of  elbowing  could  force  an  entrance  so 
far  as  to  be  able  to  get  a  sight  of  the  stage.  People 
clung  to  every  projection  along  the  walls;  they  piled 
themselves  up  on  seats,  and  crowded  the  whole 
stage  beneath,  and  above,  and  behind  the  curtain.  The 
street  in  front  was  lined  with  carriages.  The  audience 
was  composed  principally  of  business  men;  there  were 
about  two  hundred  ladies,  and  not  less  than  fifty 
clergymen." 

Not   long   after    the   organization   of    the   Fulton 
Street  meeting  in  New  York  the  celebrated  Jayne's 
Hall  prayer  meeting  in  Philadelphia  was  commenced. 
It  began  in  a  small  room  with  a  few  earnest  hearts 
waiting  on  God.     The  large  hall  was  soon  required, 
and  overflowed  as  soon  as  opened.     The  Philadelphia 
Press  thus  describes  the  vast  audience:    "When  the 
hour  had  about  half  elapsed  yesterday,  during  which 
the  mid-day  meeting   is  held,  we  entered  the  hall, 
and,  to  our  amazement,  found   it  densely   crowded, 
every  seat  being  occupied,  including  the  settees  in 
the  aisles,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  immense  gal- 
leries, and  those  who  left  for  want  of  room  on  the 
main  floor  are  said  to  have  exceeded  the  number  who 
could  not  gain  admission  on  the  day  previous,  when 
the  meeting  was  held  in  the  small  room  adjoining. 
There  were  certainly  not  less  than  three   thousand 
persons  who  entered  the  hall  during  the  hour,  and 
our  reason  for  announcing  it  as  an  epoch  is  the  fact 
that   it   was   conceded   by  those  present,  who   have 
reason  to  know,  that  it  was  the  largest  meeting  con- 
vened for  the  simple  purpose  of  prayer  to  God  that 
has  ever  been  assembled  in  this  country." 


166  TIMES   OF  REFRESHING. 

The  telegraph  was  subsequently  freely  used  to 
chronicle  the  wonders  of  divine  grace,  to  seek  prayers 
for  friends,  and  to  express  the  joy  of  new-born 
souls. 

Another  characteristic  of  this  revival  was  the  help 
given  to  it  by  the  daily  press.  For  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  the  country  the  newspapers  reported 
fully  the  proceedings  of  Christian  associations,  of 
preaching  services,  and  prayer-meetings.  This  has 
continued  to  the  present  time.  Knowledge  is  in- 
creased and  runs  to  and  fro;  heavenly  tidings  are 
carried  on  the  wings  of  the  press  from  one  city  to  an- 
other— from  one  land  to  another.  It  is  a  most  hope- 
ful prophecy  of  the  future.  The  daily  press  prints 
according  to  the  daily  demand.  When  men  read  re- 
vival sermons  with  avidity  and  scan  prayer-meeting 
reports  as  they  do  the  daily  markets,  it  is  surely  a 
sign  that  God  is  riding  forth  in  the  majesty  of  his 
strength. 

From  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  the  centers 
where  the  religious  interest  was  first  conspicuously 
developed,  it  spread  rapidly  throughout  the  land.  Or 
perhaps  it  would  be  speaking  more  accurately  to  say, 
it  sprang  up  spontaneously  in  widely  sundered  cities 
and  widely  scattered  communities.  In  the  State  of 
New  York  two  hundred  towns  were  reported  as  hav- 
ing revivals  at  one  time,  resulting  in  six  thousand 
conversions.  In  the  city  of  New  York  the  accessions 
to  the  churches  varied  from  fifty  to  three  hundred 
and  fifty.  Rev.  George  Dufiield,  Jr.,  of  Philadelphia, 
communicated  some  very  interesting  facts  to  the 
Fulton-street  prayer-meeting.  He  had  been  employed, 


revivals  of  1857-58.  167 

as  one  of  a  committee,  to  compile  the  facts  of  the  re- 
vival as  pertaining  to  that  city.  He  found  that  3,010 
had  been  added  by  profession  to  one  denomination, 
1,800  to  another,  1,500  to  another,  1,200  to  another, 
and  so  on,  till  the  aggregate  was  above  9,000.  He  be- 
lieved there  had  been  in  that  city  10,000  conversions 
within  that  current  year. 

In  New  Jersey  there  were  extensive  revivals  in 
many  towns.  In  Newark  there  were  nearly  three 
thousand  hopeful  conversions.  Sixty  towns  in  that 
state  reported  revivals  with  five  or  six  thousand  con- 
versions. 

In  Ohio  there  were  powerful  revivals  in  various 
towns.  In  Cleveland  a  number  of  morning  prayer- 
meetings  were  held  in  the  different  churches.  So 
absorbing  was  the  interest,  that  business  during  the 
hours  of  prayer  was  almost  suspended.  In  one  of 
the  churches  (Plymouth  Congregational),  there  were 
as  many  as  five  meetings  daily,  commencing  at  six  in 
the  morning  and  closing  at  nine  in  the  evening. 
Within  a  few  weeks  nearly  a  thousand  were  received 
into  the  Evangelical  churches  of  the  city.  In  Cincin- 
nati the  noon  prayer-meeting  became  the  great  centre 
of  attraction  and  the  subject  of  religion  in  shops  and 
offices  was  the  common  topic  of  conversation.  Con- 
versions were  numerous  and  the  churches  were  great- 
ly  strengthened. 

In  Chicago  a  noon  prayer-meeting  was  held  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  corner  of  Clark  and 
Washington  streets,  and  another  in  Metropolitan 
Hall.  The  latter  place  was  full  at  the  first  meeting. 
A  correspondent  writes  of  the  revival  in  that  city, 


168  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

thus:  "The  religious  interest  now  existing  in  this 
city  is  very  remarkable;  more  than  2,000  business 
men  meet  at  the  noon  prayer-meeting.  The  Metro- 
politan Hall  is  crowded  to  suffocation.  The  interest 
in  the  First  Baptist  Church  is  beyond  anything  ever 
known  in  this  city,  and  exceeds  anything  I  have  ever 
seen  in  my  life.  Some  who  have  come  to  the  city  on 
business,  have  become  so  distressed  about  their  condi- 
tion, as  sinners  against  God,  that  they  have  entirely 
forgotten  their  business  in  the  earnestness  of  their 
desire  for  salvation.  I  am  amazed  to  see  such  evi- 
dences of  God's  grace  and  power  manifested  among 
men.  Every  section  of  the  country  is  alike  favored 
by  the  Lord.  I  might  add  that  the  First  Baptist 
Church  have  daily  meetings  from  eight  to  nine  in  the 
morning,  twelve  to  one  at  noon,  and  six  and  a  half 
o'clock  evening.  The  church  to-day  have  had  an  all- 
day  meeting." 

With  similar  power  the  work  went  on  in 
other  Western  cities.  At  Detroit  there  were 
crowded  business  men's  prayer-meetings  and  quick- 
ened interest  in  nearly  all  the  churches.  In  Louis- 
ville the  noon  meeting  numbered  fully  a  thousand, 
and  great  solemnity,  prayerfulness  and  activity,  came 
upon  all  the  churches.  In  St.  Louis  the  churches 
were  crowded  with  eager,  anxious  throngs,  and  union 
prayer-meetings  gathered  the  people  in  great  numbers 
to  pray  for  a  copious  rain  from  Heaven.  So  perva- 
sive was  the  interest  throughout  the  Western  states, 
tli at  it  was  said  from  Nebraska  to  Washington,  there 
was  an  unbroken  line  of  prayer- meetings  along  the 
entire  length   of  the   road.      "  So  that   wherever  a 


REVIVALS  OF  1857-58.  169 

Christian  traveler  stopped  to  spend  the  evening,  he 
could  find  a  crowded  prayer-meeting,  across  the  en- 
tire breadth  of  our  vast  republic." 

Now  was  New  England  without  special  blessing? 
During  that  winter  Pres.  Finney  was  preaching  in 
Boston.  The  results  were  wonderful  beyond  descrip- 
tion. Almost  every  church,  was  the  scene  of  quiet,  but 
powerful  revivals.  The  business  men's  meeting  was 
of  a  kind  never  known  in  New  England  before. 

A  correspondent  says  of  the  revival:  "  It  is  not  ex- 
citement. There  is  none  of  that  wildness  so  often 
manifested  in  seasons  of  religious  interest.  The 
work  has  reached  the  '  Black  Sea,'  our  Five  Points. 
4  Publicans  and  sinners'  are  awakened,  and  are  enter- 
ing the  prayer-meetings  of  their  own  accord.  Some 
of  them  manifest  signs  of  sincere  repentance,  and  a 
movement  is  on  foot  to  make  them  a  home,  to  place 
them  where  vice  shall  not  find  or  temptation  allure 
them." 

Instances  of  sudden  and  complete  transformations 
of  character  were  common.  Infidels  became  believ- 
ers, the  profane  learned  to  pray,  and  the  most  aban- 
doned devotees  of  pleasure  became  the  consecrated 
servants  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  have  not  space  to  fol- 
low the  work  in  detail,  either  in  Boston  or  other 
towns  in  New  England.  But  it  was  at  once  general 
and  thorough.  In  Springfield,  Lynn,  New  Bedford, 
Haverhill,  New  Haven  (where  nearly  all  the  students 
of  Yale  College  were  anxious),  in  Hartford,  Portland, 
Bangor,  Concord,  Providence,  in  Brattleboro,  Clare- 
mont,  Dartmouth  College,  North  field,  St.  Albans, 
Burlington,  Middlebury,  and  many  other  places,  there 


170  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

was  special  religious  interest,  a  noiseless  but  resistless 
presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Looking  over  these  eventful  years,  two  character- 
istics stand  prominently  forth.  To  one  we  have  al- 
ready alluded.  It  was  first  of  all  a  revival  of  the 
spirit  of  prayer.  It  had  no  very  conspicuous  human 
agent.  It  realized  the  priesthood  of  every  believer. 
It  sprang  out  of  a  general  sense  of  spiritual  need,  a 
general  confession  of  sin  and  seeking  after  God. 

The  other  marked  feature  of  the  work  was  its  union 
character.  Christians  saw  eye  to  eye  over  denomina- 
tional lines.  It  was  the  beginning  of  union  prayer- 
meetings  and  union  effort  of  various  kinds.  To  say 
this,  is  not  to  impeach  the  brotherliness  or  Christian 
love  of  other  revival  scenes.  But  never  before  were 
Christians  so  willing  to  forget  their  denominational 
ends  in  the  supreme  purpose  to  save  souls  from 
death.  The  union  movements  inaugurated  at  that 
time  have  continued  to  the  present,  and  have  been 
continuously  effective  in  the  enlargement  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.  The  Fulton  Street  and  the 
Jaynes'  Hall  prayer-meetings  have  set  a  seal  of  grand 
catholicity  on  all  the  evangelistic  work  of  this  gener- 
ation. When,  therefore,  we  would  compute  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  revival  harvest  of  1857  and 
1858,  it  is  not  enough  that  we  speak  of  the  three  or 
four  hundred  thousand  conversions  and  the  quick- 
ened churches  all  over  the  land.  We  must  also  con- 
sider the  large  stimulus  given  to  all  God's  people  to 
march  in  solider  columns  against  the  works  of  the 
devil.      Henceforth  let  us  hope  in  all  her  victories 


REVIVALS  OF  1857-58.  171 

the  church  will  realize  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  if 
many  like  the  billows,  be  one  like  the  sea. 

We  append  to  this  chapter  brief  mention  of  several 
evangelists  whose  labors  during  the  past  twenty  years 
have  had  the  stamp  of  divine  favor. 

Elder  Jacob  Knapp,  the  celebrated  Baptist  evan- 
gelist, has  been  wonderfully  blessed  in  revival  work. 
We  have  not  space  to  follow  his  career.  But  the 
scenes  in  Bostou  where  the  boldness  of  his  speech 
roused  the  enemy  almost  to  the  point  of  mobbing  the 
preacher,  and  in  Rochester,  where  a  multitude  ol 
souls  were  converted,  have  rarely  been  surpassed  in 
the  revival  history  of  the  country.  A  pastor  writes 
us  of  his  ministry  in  Chicago  thus: 

"  While  I  was  p>astor  in  Chicago  in  the  winter  of 
1862,  I  had  the  assistance  of  that  wonderful  man,  El- 
der Jacob  Knapp,  in  a  protracted  meeting.  For  four 
or  five  weeks  he  labored  with  us  in  word  and 
doctrine.  His  preaching  was  with  power.  More 
pointed  and  stirring  appeals  to  the  conscience 
I  never  heard.  Some  of  his  sermons  are  full  of  gos- 
pel truth  and  some  present  the  law  in  all  its  terrors; 
sometimes  he  says  odd  and  laughable  things,  which 
are  a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help  to  his  usefulness; 
but,  take  him  all  in  all,  I  am  persuaded  that  he  has 
been  raised  up  to  do  a  great  work  in  carrying  the 
truth  to  a  large  class  of  people  that  ministers  ordina- 
rily do  not  reach.  The  brethren  who  entertained 
him  said  that  he  gave  himself  up  day  and  night  to 
prayer,  and  spoke  with  deep  awe  and  solemnity  of 
the  fervor  of  his  midnight  pleadings  with  God." 

His  personal  characteristics  were,  first,  great  cour- 


172  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

age.  He  never  feared  the  face  of  man.  He  never 
wavered  in  telling  the  whole  truth;  often  bluntly — 
sometimes  coarsely — but  always  honestly  and  fearless- 
ly. His  sermons  were  often  a  series  of  sledge-ham- 
mer blows.  Secondly,  he  was  a  man  of  prayer.  His 
prayers  were  sometimes  overwhelming  in  their  so- 
lemnity and  earnestness.     He  talked  with  God. 

He  was  also  a  man  of  ready  wit.  In  a  meeting  in 
Boston,  we  believe,  a  reckless  young  man  sought  to 
disturb  the  meeting,  by  calling  out  to  the  preacher  that 
he  wanted  to  ask  a  question.  Mr.  Knapp  paused, 
and  then  said:  "  Certainly;  what  is  it?"  "Who  was 
the  devil's  father?"  rudely  queried  the  youth  in  the 
gallery.  Quick  as  a  flash  came  the  annihilating 
answer:  "Young  man,  keep  your  own  family  rec- 
ord." 

With  all  his  peculiarities  he  was  a  man  of  God, 
owned  and  blessed  in  his  labors  in  a  remarkable 
degree. 

Dr.  Kirk  who  knew  him  well,  says  of  him:  "Com- 
plaints were  heard  of  the  superficialness  of  conver- 
sions under  his  ministry.  But  following  him  as  I 
did,  in  1S39  and  1840,  in  Baltimore,  New  Haven,  and 
Hartford,  I  am  able  to  testify,  that,  in  all  those  places, 
men's  religious  sensibilities  had  been  deeply  moved. 
I  found  the  ground  ploughed  for  the  seed,  and  the 
harvest  ripe  for  the  sickle." 

Another  evangelist,  who  deserves  a  much  fuller 
mention  than  our  limits  allow,  is  the  Rev.  A.  B. 
Earle,  also  a  Baptist  minister.  For  twenty  years 
and  more  he  has  been  preaching  Christ  and  him  crn- 
i-ified,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  with  uniform 


revivals  of  1857-58.  173 

and  sometimes  wonderful  success.  His  preaching  is 
marked  with  great  simplicity,  directness  and  logical 
force.  His  revival  methods  are  very  simple,  preach- 
ing, singing  and  personal  conversation.  He  is  very 
judicious  in  his  plans  and  wise  in  his  counsels.  Dr. 
Fish  speaks  of  him  thus: 

"Among  living  preachers  who  are  successful  in  lead- 
ing  souls  to  Christ,  few  are  more  blessed  of  God  than 
Rev.  A.  B.  Earle.  It  has  been  the  writer's  privilege 
to  be  with  him  in  a  series  of  meetings,  and  to  know 
him  intimately  as  a  brother  beloved.  He  has  trav- 
eled in  almost  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  preached 
seventeen  thousand  sermons.  On  the  matter  of 
'Preaching  and  Revivals,'  such  an  example  is  deserv- 
ing of  study.  It  is  often  asked,  'Where  is  his  power?' 
AVe  answer,  obviously  from  God.  Like  all  good 
ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  lives  in  communion 
with  the  skies,  and  is  invested  with  an  energy  more 
than  human.  As  has  been  remarked  of  him,  one  can 
hardly  be  with  him  long  without  a  persuasion  that  he 
loves  God,  and  loves  the  gospel,  and  loves  the  souls 
of  men — without  a  persuasion  that  with  him  4  re- 
ligion is  the  chief  concern,'  and  that  it  possesses  his 
mind  and  heart  and  life." 

Mrs.  Ma^ie  N.  Van  Cott  is  the  first  woman 
licensed  to  preach  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
of  the  United  States.  Opinions  will  widely  differ 
as  to  the  Scripturalness  and  expediency  of  women 
exercising  the  public  functions  of  the  ministry. 
There  can  be  no  question  of  Mrs.  Van  Cott's  ability 
and  devotion  to  her  work.  She  has  held  services 
widely  throughout  the  country,  in  New  York,  New 


174  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

England,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  and  other  states.  She 
is  a  woman  of  great  self-reliance,  decided  tact,  fine 
presence  and  address,  and  oratorical  gifts.  She 
preaches  with  whole-souled  passion  and  not  unfre- 
quently  has  great  power  over  her  audience.  Few  wo- 
men, and  not  very  many  men,  could  have  endured 
the  physical  strain  of  her  numerous  revival  campaigns. 
Her  boundless  enthusiasm  carries  her  through  all  fa- 
tigue and  over  all  obstacles.  And,  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  her  ministry,  there  is  no  doubt  of  her 
power,  the  singleness  of  her  purpose,  or  the  sincerity 
of  her  efforts  to  glorify  the  Savior  in  the  salvation 
of  souls. 


CHAPTEK  Till. 

REVIVALS  UNDER  THE  LABORS  OF  REV. 
E.  P.  HAMMOND. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  the  labors  of  Mr.  Ham- 
mond mark  a  distinct  era  in  the  revival  history  of  our 
country.  He  has  been  called  the  children's  evangel- 
ist. "While  his  work  is  not  given  exclusively  to  the 
young,  it  is  in  this  direction  that  his  success  has  been 
most  marked.  He  has  taught  the  church  a  lesson 
concerning  early  conversions  which  will  be  useful  in 
all  coming  time. 

In  what  is  now  the  very  common  method  of  per- 
sonal work,  Mr.  Hammond  has  also  been  a  pioneer. 
Going  from  pew  to  pew  in  the  congregation,  turning 
the  public  service  at  once  into  an  inquiry  meeting, 
and  relying  less  upon  the  general  proclamation  than 
the  personal  conversation  following,  is  one  of  the 
methods  now  in  general  use  in  revival  meetings  which 
Mr.  Hammond  did  not  indeed  originate — which  was 
freely  used  by  Pay  son  and  others — but  which  he  has 
done  more  to  popularize  in  our  generation  than  any 
other  evangelist.  A  sketch  of  his  work  will  best  in- 
troduce us  to  the  secret  of  his  success. 

He  was  born  in  Ellington — a  quiet  town  in  the 
Connecticut  Valley,  Sept.  1,  1831.  He  was  a  child 
of  prayer,  consecrated  to  God  by  parental  piety,  and 

175 


176  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

was  converted  when  about  seventeen  years  of  age. 
The  story  of  his  conversion  shows  how  he  first  obtain- 
ed that  clear  view  of  the  free  grace  of  God,  which  has 
since  so  signally  characterized  all  his  preaching.  "We 
give  his  own  account: 

"  The  first  Sabbath  of  my  stay  in  Southington  was 
the  communion.  This  was  held  between  the  services, 
and  all  who  were  not  Christians  were  in  the  habit  of 
going  out.  As  I  looked  about,  it  seemed  that  all  my 
friends  and  relatives  and  new  acquaintances  were 
gathering  around  the  table  of  the  Lord.  Among  the 
few  who  passed  out  were  none  whom  I  knew.  The 
thought  of  the  judgment  day  flashed  across  my  troub- 
led mind,  and  the  awful  scenes  of  that  final  separa- 
tion passed  like  a  panorama  before  my  view.  On  re- 
turning to  my  boarding-place  that  night,  a  lady  hand- 
ed me  James's  'Anxious  Inquirer'  to  read.  I  glanced 
my  eye  hastily  over  a  few  of  its  pages,  but  thought  it 
too  dry  a  book  for  me,  and  I  angrily  threw  it  down. 
But  this  did  not  extract  the  arrow  of  conviction  that 
pierced  my  heart.  I  felt  that  I  was  a  sinner,  hasten- 
ing on  to  the  great  judgment  day  unprepared.  Little 
did  I  know  of  the  earnest  pleadings  that  were  daily 
ascending  from  a  mother's  fond  heart.  Day  by  day 
my  convictions  deepened.  My  heart  rebelled  against 
God.     I  disputed  his  undivided  claim  to  my  heart. 

"  During  these  dark  days  I  read  James's  'Anxious 
Inquirer.'  I  used  to  study  it  by  the  hour  with  my 
Bible,  looking  out  all  the  passages  referred  to.  I 
thus  saw  more  and  more  of  my  deceitful  and  pollut- 
ed heart.  At  first,  it  was  thoughts  of  the  judgment 
day  and  the  sight  of  the  wicked  going  away  into  ever- 


REVIVALS    UNDER    HAMMOND.  177 

lasting  punishment  that  alarmed  me;  but  afterwards 
it  was  the  sight  of  myself  that  alarmed  me  most.  I 
was  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  look  on  him  whom  my 
sins  had  pierced,  and  .  .  .  mourn.  (Zech.  xii:  10.) 
I  began  to  understand  those  words  in  Acts  v:  31: 
k  Him  hath  God  exalted  with  His  right  hand  to  be  a 
Prince  and  a  Savior,  for  to  give  repentance.'  I  shall 
never  forget  that  calm  autumn  morning  when  I  fell 
upon  my  knees  in  my  little  closet  and  repeated  the 
hymn  my  mother  had  taught  me, — 

"  'Alas,  and  did  my  Savior  bleed, 

And  did  my  Sovereign  die  ? 
Would  he  devote  that  sacred  head 

For  such  a  worm  as  I  ? 

"  'Was  it  for  crimes  that  I  had  done, 

He  groaned  upon  the  tree  ? 
Amazing  pity !  grace  unknown, 

And  love  beyond  degree!' 

k*  I  then  saw  that  God  '  might  be  just,  and  the  jus- 
tifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus' (Rom.  iii:  26), 
and  that  I  must 

"  'Cast  my  deadly  doing  down, 
Down,  down  at  Jesus'  feet' ; 

and  with  tears  in  my  eyes  I  exclaimed,  in  the  words 
of  the  last  verse  of  the  hymn  which  I  was  repeating, — 

11  'But  drops  of  grief  can  ne'er  repay 

The  debt  of  love  I  owe. 
Here,  Lord,  I  give  myself  away, 

'Tis  all  that  I  can  do.' 

"  It  was  then  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  had  so  long  been 
striving  with  me,  took  of  the  things   of  Christ  and 


178  TIMES   OF  REFRESHING. 

showed  them  unto  me;  my  blind  eyes  were  opened. 
I  saw  that  God  was  satisfied  with  what  Christ  had 
done;  that  Jesus  had  paid  the  debt,  and  I  had  only  to 
trust  him  for  it  all." 

During  the  early  years  of  his  Christian  life  it  was 
his  purpose  to  go  to  Bulgaria  as  a  missionary.  He 
had  become  interested  in  that  country  by  the  state- 
ments made  by  Dr.  Schauffler,  in  Williams  College,  - 
to  the  effect  that  Christian  merchants  in  Constantino- 
ple had  long  been  in  the  habit  of  putting  leaves  of 
the  Bible  in  packages  of  goods  sent  out  into  the 
country,  and  that  by  this  means  many  had  been  con- 
verted. While  cherishing  the  purpose  of  being  a 
missionary,  he  determined  upon  a  course  of  European 
travel.  Four  students  from  Williams  College  made 
their  plans  to  go  together.  For  one  reason  or  another 
three  of  them  failed  to  keep  the  appointment.  On 
the  1st  of  June,  1859,  Mr.  Hammond  embarked 
alone.  He  went  to  Ireland,  witnessed  the  scenes  of 
revivals  there,  and  made  the  tour  of  Switzerland  and 
France  principally  on  foot.  On  his  return,  he  reach- 
ed Glasgow  with  only  five  dollars  in  his  pocket. 
Money  he  had  expected  from  home  failed  to  reach 
him,  and  while  considering  what  he  should  do  in  this 
dilemma,  a  family  in  the  city  kindly  invited  him  to 
their  house  until  he  should  finish  his  studies  at  the  uni- 
versity. He  made  the  acquaintance  soon  after  of  the 
Kev.  Dr.  Lindslay  W.  Alexander.  Through  his  influ- 
ence he  obtained  an  invitation  to  preach  for  a  few 
weeks  in  a  well-nigh  dead  Congregational  Church,  in 
Musselburgh.  At  the  first  service  there  were  thirty 
persons  present.     After  a  few  weeks  so  much  inter- 


REVIVALS    UNDER   HAMMOND.  179 

est  was  manifested  that  protracted  services  were  com- 
menced and  held  for  twenty-one  successive  weeks. 
Dr.  Alexander  became  alarmed,  and  visited  the  stu- 
dent for  the  purpose  of  cautioning  him  against  the  re- 
vival extremes.  For  some  time  one  day  of  each  week 
had  been  devoted  to  the  children.  It  was  at  one  of 
these  meetings  that  Dr.  Alexander  was  present.  Be- 
ing urged  by  Mr.  Hammond  to  meet  the  young  con- 
verts in  the  study,  and  examine  them  as  to  their  ex- 
perience, he  reluctantly  consented.  And  presently, 
his  doubts  all  gone,  he  came  back  to  the  young  revi- 
valist, and  said,  with  the  tears  streaming  down  his 
face,  "The  Lord  has  broken  my  heart.  This  is  his 
work."  From  that  moment  Dr.  Alexander  became 
Mr.  Hammond's  steadfast  friend.  He  took  him  to 
the  National  Congregational  Association  in  Glasgow, 
and  introduced  him  to  his  brethren  in  such  terms  as 
soon  secured  him  invitations  from  all  parts  of  Scot- 
land. He  went  first  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  preached 
for  sixteen  weeks.  The  city  was  greatly  moved,  and 
large  numbers  were  converted.  Thence  he  went  to 
Dumfermlein  and  Hun  thy,  preaching  in  the  churches 
until  they  became  too  small  to  hold  the  audiences, 
and  then  in  the  open  air  to  audiences  estimated  as 
high  as  ten  thousand.  In  Aberdeen,  Perth  and  An- 
nan, wonderful  religious  interest  was  developed,  and 
converts  were  numbered  by  thousands.  In  the  last- 
named  place  so  great  was  the  interest  that  meetings 
for  prayer  and  inquiry  were  often  continued  until  one 
o'clock  at  night.  Bonar,  Alexander,  Buchanan,  and 
others,  now  invited  him  to  Glasgow,  where  he  labored 
with  wonderful  success  for  six  or  eight  weeks.   The  six 


180  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

daily  papers  reported  the  meetings  page  by  page,  and 
the  effect  of  them,  it  is  safe  to  say,  is  still  felt  through- 
out Scotland. 

He  went  to  Italy  for  a  brief  rest,  and  after 
a  few  more  services  in  Glasgow  and  other  places 
in  Scotland,  in  1861,  returned  to  this  country.  His 
first  services  were  held  in  the  Salem  Street  Church, 
Boston,  where  several  hundred  were  converted.  He 
was  invited  to  Dr.  Payson's  old  church  in  Portland, 
Me.  At  the  beginning  of  the  meetings  Dr.  Carruth- 
ers  said  to  him,  "  My  people  are  still  greatly  in  love 
with  their  old  pastor,  Dr.  Payson,  and  if  you  could 
somewhat  follow  his  methods,  it  would  greatly  favor 
the  work."  "What  were  those  methods?"  inquired 
the  evangelist.  "  Well,  he  used  to  leave  the  pulpit, 
go  right  down  among  the  people,  and  talk  to  them 
personally."  "This,"  said  Mr.  Hammond,  "  is  just 
what  I  have  done  for  years."  To  the  people  of  this 
church,  therefore,  his  methods  were  nothing  novel, 
and  they  took  hold  of  them  heartily,  and  for  six  weeks 
there  was  a  powerful  series  of  services.  From  Port- 
land he  went  to  Bethel,  and  then  to  Gorham,  K.  H., 
and  Batb,  Me.  In  all  these  places,  not  only  were  the 
churches  stimulated  to  a  higher  life  and  harder  work, 
but  large  numbers  of  sinners  were  converted.  In 
1863,  he  began  union  meetings  in  Rochester,  N".  Y. 
The  whole  city  was  moved  as  it  had  not  been  since 
the  days  of  Finney.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  not 
made  the  children's  meetings  prominent  in  connec- 
tion with  the  revivals.  His  experience,  however,  was 
gradually  teaching  him  two  things;  first,  that  even 
young  children  may  be  truly  and  soundly  converted, 


REVIVALS   UNDER   HAMMOND.  181 

and  second,  that  often  the  adults  may  often  be  most 
readily  reached  through  children.  At  the  State  Sun- 
day School  Convention  at  Troy  in  the  spring  of  1864, 
the  Secretary  stated  that  a  thousand  and  one  children 
had  been  examined  and  received  into  the  churches  of 
Rochester,  as  a  result  of  the  revival  in  that  city.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Campbell  stated  in  the  Evangelist  that  163 
had  joined  his  church  from  the  Sunday  School.  After 
seven  years  he  had  gone  over  the  list  for  the  purpose 
of  finding  out  by  careful  examination  how  the  con- 
verts of  that  revival  had  endured.  He  found  that  all 
but  two  or  three  were  steadfast  in  their  professions, 
and  living  Christian  lives. 

Mr.  Hammond  then  held  meetings  in  Brunswick, 
Me.,  where  many  students  of  Bowdoin  College  were 
converted;  in  Farmington,  Me.,  and  in  Hamilton  and 
London,  Canada. 

During  the  same  year  (1862)  he  visited  Beloit, 
"Wis.  The  veteran  missionary,  Father  Cary,  urged 
the  evangelist  to  bold  meetings,  but  having  come  for 
the  purpose  of  rest,  he  declined.  During  the  after- 
noon a  godly  woman  having  heard  of  his  presence, 
came  to  him  and  said :  "  The  Lord  has  sent  yon  here. 
I  have  been  in  prayer  nearly  the  whole  night.  We 
must  have  meetings."  Not  long  after  another  Chris- 
tian woman  came  and  said:  "A  wonderful  spirit  of 
prayer  and  anxiety  has  come  over  me.  I  feel  that  we 
must  have  a  revival,  and  the  Lord  has  sent  you  here 
to  help."  Mr.  Hammond  replied  that  if  a  prayer 
meeting  could  be  arranged  for  that  (Saturday)  even- 
ing, he  would  then  see  what  were  the  indications  of 
Providence  in  regard  to  it.     This  was  at  four  o'clock, 


182  TIMES    OF   REFRESHING. 

This  woman  went  out  to  circulate  the  notice,  and  by 
half-past  seven  a  large  company  were  assembled. 
The  next  day  they  had  a  crowded  and  solemn  service, 
and  at  the  close  of  it  nobody  left  the  house.  So  sud- 
denly had  the  Lord  come  to  His  temple  that  good 
old  Mr.  Cery  was  not  ready  to  go  down  and  converse 
with  inquirers.  Speaking  of  his  hesitation  at  the 
prayer  meeting  on  Monday  morning,  he  said  :  "  The 
Lord  came  too  suddenly.  I  wasn't  prepared  for  his 
coming.  I  hoped  in  a  few  days  to  see  souls  anxious 
about  their  salvation,  and  by  that  time  I  hoped  to  be 
ready  to  meet  them  ;  but  I  feel  that  the  Lord  has 
come  to  me  now,  and  I  will  not  excuse  myself  again 
from  the  blessed  work  of  guiding  inquirers  to  Christ." 
The  meetings  in  Beloit  continued  for  only  a  few  days, 
but  decided  results  were  achieved. 

In  the  autumn  of  1862  Mr.  Hammond  held  services 
in  Montreal,  where  as  many  as  fifteen  hundred  sought 
an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  God's  people,  and  large 
numbers  were  converted. 

In  the  following  winter  Mr.  Hammond  was  or- 
dained as  an  evangelist  by  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  Dr.  Mark  Hopkins  preaching  the  ordination 
sermon.  He  then  held  meetings  in  Brooklyn  and 
Utica.  In  the  latter  city  there  were  some  remarkable 
scenes — depths  of  conviction,  and  clear  and  decided 
conversions  of  some  of  the  leading  business  men  of 
the  city.  When  Mr.  Hammond  left  New  York  city 
to  engage  in  work  in  the  central  part  of  the  State,  a 
friend  said  to  him:  "I  am  sorry  you  are  going  to 
those  burnt-over  districts.  You  will  not  find  fruitful 
revival  fields  there."     The  evangelist,  therefore,  went 


REVIVALS    UNDER   HAMMOND.  183 

with  some  misgivings.  He  soon  found  his  mistake, 
and  was  led  to  thank  God  for  "  burnt-over  districts." 
He  found  those  old  men — who  were  converted  thirty- 
years  before,  under  the  labors  of  Finney  and  Knapp 
— were  like  war-horses,  used  to  the  sounds  of  bat- 
tle. Not  easily  frightened  by  new  methods,  they 
entered  heartily  into  the  work,  and  gave  the  evan- 
gelist most  cordial  support. 

In  the  spring  of  1864  Mr.  Hammond  began  serv- 
ices in  the  First  Congregational  Church,  of  Chicago. 
Here  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Hammond  worked  together, 
the  former  being  present  at  nearly  all  the  meetings, 
taking  notes  and  an  active  part.  The  meetings  in 
Chicago  were  not  so  successful  as  they  had  been  in 
some  places,  partly  because  of  the  lateness  of  the  sea- 
son and  partly  because  the  meetings,  instead  of  being 
rooted  in  one  place,  were  moved  from  one  side  of  the 
river  to  another.  The  correspondent  of  the  New 
York  Independent  estimated  the  number  of  conver- 
sions at  nearly  or  quite  a  thousand.  In  1865  a 
glorious  work  was  begun  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  where  as. 
many  as  five  thousand  were  present  at  open-air  serv- 
ices. 

During  that  winter  Mr.  Hammond  preached  for 
ten  weeks  at  Philadelphia,  sometimes  in  churches, 
sometimes  in  the  Academy  of  Music;  in  which  lat- 
ter place  as  many  as  five  hundred  rose  for  prayers  at 
a  single  meeting. 

Then  followed  services  in  Halifax,  and  other 
towns  in  Nova  Scotia;  Bingham  ton,  Elmira,  Watkins, 
N.  Y.;  Towanda,  Pa.;  Corning  and  Erie,  N.  Y.;  and 
Peoria,    111.;   where  it  is   thought  that  as  many  as 


184  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

a  thousand  were  hopefully  converted  to  Christ. 
From  Peoria  Mr.  Hammond  went  to  Springfield,  111., 
where  the  work  was  blessed  by  a  large  number  of  re- 
markable  conversions. 

In  May,  1866,  Mr.  Hammond  was  married  in  To- 
wanda,  Pa.,  and  soon  afterwards  started  with  his  wife 
on  an  extended  tour  through  Scotland,  England, 
France,  Italy,  Egypt  and  Palestine.  In  Jerusalem 
and  Beirut  he  held  services,  being  assisted  by  Bishop 
Gobat,  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  On  his  return,  he 
held  meetings  at  Naples,  Paris  and  other  places  on 
the  continent,  preaching  the  gospel  through  an  inter- 
preter. After  visiting  scenes  of  his  former  labors  in 
Scotland,  in  the  spring  of  1867,  he  held  services  for 
six  weeks  in  London.  His  work  among  the  children 
there  was  peculiarly  blessed,  and  has  been  developed 
into  what  is  called  the  Children's  Special  Service  Mis- 
sion, which  is  now  a  permanently  established  institu- 
tion, its  officers  being  among  the  leading  men  of  Lon- 
don. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1867  he  con- 
tinued his  evangelistic  labors  in  various  parts  of  Scot- 
land, England  and  Ireland,  and  returned  home  early 
in  1868.  Like  Mr.  Moody,  he  went  first  to  his  old 
family  home  in  Yernon,  Conn.,  and  preached  the 
gospel  to  his  own  townsmen  and  neighbors.  As  the 
result,  several  of  his  own  relatives  were  converted. 

During  this  year  he  returned  to  Rochester,  the 
place  where  his  work  had  been  so  blessed  before,  and 
began  another  series  of  meetings.  At  the  opening 
meeting  he  was  pressed  down  with  an  unusual  weight 
of  prayer,  that  that  meeting  might  be  blessed. 


REVIVALS    UNDER    HAMMOND.  185 

In  the  course  of  the  sermon,  while  speaking  of 
the  valor  with  which  men  under  earthly  leadership 
would  brave  danger,  Tennyson's  "Charge  of  the 
Light  Brigade  "  came  so  forcibly  to  his  mind  that  he 
could  not  resist  the  desire  to  repeat  it  entire.  At  the 
close  of  the  service  a  lady  came  to  Dr.  Shaw,  and 
said :  "  There  is  no  occasion  for  us  to  go  to  the 
theatre  now:  you  provide  us  with  theatrical  enter- 
tainment here."  Somewhat  alarmed  by  this  repre- 
sentation, the  good  Doctor  said  to  Mr.  Hammond: 
"  This  will  cause  criticism.  You  must  not  be  so  the- 
atrical.    Why  did  you  do  it?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  answered  Mr.  Hammond.  "  I 
had  prayed  very  earnestly  to  be  guided  in  this  sermon. 
It  came  to  me  like  an  inspiration,  and  I  used  it." 

The  following  morning  a  fine-looking  elderly  man, 
with  a  bronzed  face,  called  on  Mr.  Hammond  and 
said:  "I  was  one  of  that  six  hundred  who  went  into 
Balaklava.  I  am  one  of  the  thirty-six  who  came  out 
of  the  charge.  I  have  been  in  a  hundred  battles,  but 
never  until  last  night  did  I  feel  myself  a  sinner.  My 
wife  and  I  went  home  from  the  meeting  convicted  of 
sin,  and  gave  our  hearts  to  God." 

Thus  it  appeared  that  the  Spirit  had  overruled 
what  seemed  to  many  the  preacher's  mistake,  to  the 
salvation  of  two  souls. 

From  Rochester  he  went  to  Lockport.  As  the  re- 
sult of  the  revival  there,  Rev.  Dr.  Wisner  received 
into  his  church  in  one  day  two  hundred  and  fifty-six 
members.  About  a  thousand  united  with  the  churches 
in  and  around  Lockport. 

In  1869  Mr.  Hammond  labored  four  weeks  in  In- 


186  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

dianapolis.  The  meetings  of  the  first  week  were  full 
of  power,  the  churches  were  greatly  refreshed,  and  a 
great  number  added  to  them  of  such  as  should  be 
saved. 

In  November  of  that  year  he  went  to  Cincinnati. 
The  churches  had  thoroughly  prepared  for  his  com- 
ing— organized  union  services,  and  joined  heartily 
with  him  in  the  work.  "When  Mr.  Hammond  reached 
the  city  there  were  already  hopeful  indications  of  a 
gracious  harvest.  In  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
there  were  many  inquirers,  and  throughout  many  of 
the  churches  there  was  an  atmosphere  of  expectation 
and  prayer.  According  to  his  custom,  Mr.  Ham- 
mond began  with  union  children's  meetings.  He 
preached  the  cardinal  truths  of  the  gospel  with  great 
simplicity  and  fervor,  and  a  large  number  of  young- 
people  gave  evidence  of  having  been  truly  converted. 
Mr.  Hammond  remained  in  the  city  for  about  six 
weeks,  and  the  work,  both  in  the  city  and  the  towns 
around  it,  gave  signs  of  the  mighty  presence  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  The  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette 
gathered  statistics  of  the  numbers  who  united  with 
the  various  churches  in  and  around  the  city,  and  they 
were  found  to  aggregate  about  five  thousand.  These 
were,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  the  fruits  of  Mr. 
Hammond's  labors. 

He  then  spent  a  few  weeks  in  Evansville,  Ind., 
where  the  work  was  rapid  and  powerful.  In  one  of 
the  children's  meetings  the  wealthiest  man  in  the 
city  was  converted  to  Christ.  The  conversion  was 
doubtless  genuine,  for  he  has  since  given  a  round  half- 
million  of  dollars  for  public  benevolent  purposes  of 
the  city. 


REVIVALS    UNDER    HAMMOND.  187 

We  have  not  space  to  follow  the  work  of  the  evan- 
gelist in  Milwaukee,  Wis.;  Providence,  R.  L;  Brook- 
lyn; Newark,  N.  J.;  Kansas  City,  Leavenworth, 
Topeka,  Atchison,  Fort  Scott  and  Lawrence,  Kan. 
In  the  latter  place  it  was  estimated  that  a  hundred 
family  altars  had  been  erected. 

In  the  fall  of  1873  eighteen  ministers  of  St.  Louis 
invited  Mr.  Hammond  to  that  city.  On  January  10, 
1874,  the  meetings  there  were  begun. 

A  great  revival  followed,  the  practical  character 
of  which  may  be  gathered  from  the  following 
covenant  read  in  the  farewell  meeting,  and  signed  by 
thirty-six  ministers,  who  were  present  on  the  platform: 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  ministers  and  pastors  of 
the  different  churches  of  St.  Louis,  hereby  become 
members  of  the  ;  Evangelical  Alliance  of  St.  Louis ;' 
and  by  so  doing  bind  ourselves  as  a  band  of  brothers, 
combining  our  Christian  forces  as  a  unit,  presenting 
an  unbroken  front  against  intemperance,  infidelity 
and  unbelief,  laying  aside  all  local  preferences,  and  in 
a  grand  union  effort  on  one  common  platform  to  do 
all  we  can  to  bring  sinners  to  Christ,  to  the  living 
Savior." 

A  paper  was  also  adopted  by  the  pastors,  specifying 
among  the  characteristics  of  the  revival,  the  union 
services,  the  conversion  of  children,  the  deep  stillness 
and  solemnity  of  inquiry  meetings,  free  from  all  ob- 
jectionable extravagances,  the  effect  of  gospel  singing, 
the  clearness  of  the  preaching,  and  its  thoroughly 
sound  doctrinal  tone,  and  the  closer  bond  of  union 
created  between  all  the  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

From  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Hammond,  accompanied  by 


188  TIMES    OF  REFRESHING. 

six  ministers  and  a  number  of  laymen,  made  a  flying 
evangelistic  tour  through  the  Indian  Territory  and 
Texas,  preaching  in  Galveston,  Austin  and  other 
places.  During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  this  year, 
Mr.  Hammond  spent  several  months  in  California, 
preaching  in  San  Jose,  Sacramento,  Oakland  and  San 
Francisco,  making  a  missionary  tour  as  far  north  as 
Alaska. 

In  1875,  he  labored  with  remarkable  success  in 
Washington  and  the  Cumberland  Valley  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  work  in  Harrisburg  was  specially  power- 
ful, the  meetings  in  Dr.  Robinson's  church  often  con-" 
tinning  till  far  into  the  night.  The  depth  of  convic- 
tion for  sin  was  so  deep  in  many  cases,  that  strong 
men  were  physically  prostrated  and  cried  aloud 
under  an  overwhelming  sense  of  guilt. 

The  revival  soon  became  general  throughout  the 
valley,  and  refreshing  rains  of  blessing  fell  successively 
upon  Mechanicsburg,  Shippensburg,  Greencastle, 
Chambersburg,  Mercersburg,  Carlisle,  Middletown, 
New  Bloomiield,  JSTewville,  and  other  places.  In 
Newville  the  work  was  wonderful  beyond  anything 
known  in  that  locality  before.  We  quote  from  the 
report  made  to  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Carlisle,  April,  1876.  Referring  to  the  work 
in  Newville,  it  says:  "With  the  union  meetings  a 
work  of  grace,  of  great  power  and  of  wide  influence, 
began  in  that  community,  and  which  continued  dur- 
ing the  winter,  greatly  reviving  the  professed  people 
of  God,  and  causing  them  to  rejoice  in  God  their 
Savior,  and  resulting  in  the  ingathering  to  the 
churches  of  that  place  and  the  immediate  vicinity,  of 


REVIVALS   UNDER   HAMMOND.  189 

between  four  and  five  hundred  souls  on  profession  of 
their  faith  in  Christ." 

The  same  report,  speaking  of  the  general  effect  of 
the  revival  throughout  all  the  towns  of  that  valley, 
said,  "A  further  result  of  this  most  gracious  awaken- 
ing has  been  an  increased  spirit  of  unity  and  harmony 
among  the  professed  people  of  God,  a  deeper  interest 
in  all  the  different  parts  of  public  service,  the  erection 
of  many  family  altars,  a  general  reformation  in  the 
morals  of  the  community,  a  better  observance  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  and  a  strong  check  upon  the  pub- 
lic vices  of  intemperance,  profanity  and  licentiousness. 
In  short,  the  whole  region  has  been  stirred  by  a  supe- 
rior spiritual  power,  infidelity  upon  all  sides  stands 
abashed,  and  all  classes  are  ready  to  acknowledge 
that  this  was  truly  the  work  of  God." 

Afterward  Mr.  Hammond  held  services  in  Phila- 
delphia, Newburyport,  Amesbury,  Mass.,  and  Terre- 
haute,  Ind.  The  meetings  in  the  latter  place  were 
specially  fruitful.  A  report  in  one  of  the  religious 
papers  gives  the  following  summary  of  results: 

"  The  grand  result  is  that  all  classes,  from  the  most 
respectable  to  the  most  abandoned,  have  been  reached. 
Sin,  also,  has  been  continually  held  up  as  the  abominable 
thing  that  God  hates ;  and  the  conversions  taking  place 
have  largely  indicated  how  pungent  has  been  convic- 
tion in  that  regard,— thus  leading  the  pastors  to  be- 
lieve that  the  work  as  a  whole  has  been  a  deep  and 
thorough  one." 

During  the  winter  of  1876  and  1877  a  great  revival 
wave  swept  over  the  towns  of  Syracuse,  Seneca  Falls, 
Geneva,  and  other  places  in  Central  New  York,  for  a 


190  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

description  of  which  we  nave  not  space  beyond  the 
general  remark  that  the  characteristics  of  meetings 
we  have  already  described  were  present  in  these  also, 
in  the  increased  faith  and  life  of  the  churches  and  the 
turning  of  many  to  righteousness. 

A  brief  estimate  of  the  elements  of  Mr.  Hammond's 
success  may  fittingly  close  this  sketch  of  his  labors. 

His  place  as  a  preacher.  The  cross  of  Christ  is 
most  distinctly  outlined  in  his  own  mind,  and  is 
therefore  vividly  presented  to  his  hearers.  The  sub- 
stance of  his  sermons  is  ruin  through  sin  and  present 
full  redemption  through  Christ,  who  was  "  wounded 
for  our  transgressions,  and  bruised  for  our  iniquities." 
The  substitution  of  Christ  in  the  sinner's  place — the 
full  satisfaction  to  Divine  justice — the  full  justifica- 
tion of  the  sinner  in  God's  sight  on  account  of  the 
Savior's  work,  and  the  believer's  privilege  to  live  ever 
in  the  light  of  conscious  acceptance  with  God — are 
the  notes  that  he  is  never  weary  of  ringing  in  the 
people's  ears.  His  power  of  illustration  is  remarka- 
ble. He  is  eminently  successful  in  picturing  before 
his  audience  whatever  scene  he  is  trying  to  impress 
on  their  minds.  The  attention  of  children,  therefore, 
never  flags,  and  his  influence  over  them  through 
vivid  picturing  of  the  plan  of  salvation,  has  been 
greatly  blessed,  alike  to  their  instruction  and  salva- 
tion. The  criticism  that  might  be  founded  on  his 
too  great  urgency  in  bringing  children  to  an  announce- 
ment of  a  decision  for  Christ,  is  largely  shorn  of  its 
strength  by  the  undoubted  fact  that  he  is  as  careful 
to  make  them  intelligent  as  he  is  to  make  them  de- 
cided.  He  gives  them  a  reason  for  the  hope  he  would 


REVIVALS   UNDER    HAMMOND.  191 

have  them  entertain.  It  is  his  custom,  m  separating 
the  young  converts  from  the  audience,  to  have  pastors 
examine  them  as  to  the  ground  of  their  faith  in 
Christ.  Brief  as  this  examination  must  be,  he 
solemnly  and  distinctly  urges  that  it  be  pointedly 
made,  and  as  clearly  warns  the  children  against  the 
professi  on  of  a  love  for  Christ  for  which  they  cannot 
give  some  simple  and  Scriptural  reason.  His  preach- 
ing, then,  whether  to  children  or  adults,  consists  in  a 
clear,  well-defined  and  well-illustrated  statement  of 
the  central  doctrine  of  the  cross.  His  system  of 
truth  is  cast  in  Biblical  rather  than  technical  or  theo- 
logical forms.  The  personality  of  Jesus  as  a  heav- 
enly friend;  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  calling  for  our 
confidence  and  filial  love;  the  joyfulness  of  Christ's 
service  and  the  certainty  of  its  rewards  in  a  real 
heaven  of  endless  progress  and  endless  work,  these 
truths  come  from  his  lips  with  the  freshness  and  force 
which  only  a  deep  conviction  of  them  can  give. 

His  manner  of  preaching  is  in  harmony  with  the  mat- 
ter of  it.  Buoyant,  almost  boyish,  with  a  certain  phy- 
sical exuberance — with  a  fine  commingling  of  joyful- 
ness  and  seriousness — he  commends  his  religion  as 
something  that  will  give  relish  to  this  life  as  well  as 
blessedness  to  the  next.  He  is  no  ascetic,  removed 
from  the  people  and  shading  their  thoughts  with  pic- 
tures of  religious  gloom.  He  brings  a  dash  of  Chris- 
tian sunlight  and  a  breath  of  free  Christian  courage 
and  hope  with  every  sermon.  Add  to  this  his  earn- 
estness, which  never  weakens;  his  directness  of  pur- 
pose, which  never  swerves,  and  he  is  before  us  as  an 
evangelist  a  large  measure  of  whose  success  is  in  his 


192  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

loyalty  to  the  truth,  his  sense  of  its  power,  his 
wisdom  in  presenting  it,  and  his  earnestness  in  en- 
forcing it,  as  the  very  Word  of  God — the  charter  of 
Christian  liberty,  and  the  guide  to  a  h  appy  Christian 
life  and  work. 

Another  element  of  his  success  is  in  his  general- 
ship. He  has  singular  tact  in  setting  people  to 
work.  Many  of  our  later  evangelists  are  gifted  in 
this  direction.  Indeed,  the  spirit  of  the  time  points 
to  this  as  one  of  the  coming  methods.  It  was  an- 
nounced by  Wesley  long  ago,  "All  at  it  and  always 
at  it."  It  was  announced  by  Paul  much  longer  ago, 
in  his  appeals  to  personal  devotion.  The  church  has 
been  slow  to  learn.  Evangelism  in  New  England  in 
1740,  meant  preaching,  and  wonderful  were  the  re- 
sults. In  our  own  day  it  means  preaching  followed 
by  hand-to-hand  battle  for  souls.  In  this  conflict 
generalship  has  its  finest  field.  Mr.  Hammond  has 
decided  tact  in  bringing  Christians  and  inquirers  to- 
gether. He  bustles  around  an  inquiry-room  seem- 
ingly in  a  hap- hazard  way,  but  in  a  few  moments, 
somehow,  order  has  come  out  of  the  confusion  and  the 
hushed  groups  and  the  subdued  murmur  of  Christian 
conversation  show  that  personal  work  has  begun  in 
earnest.  He  now — in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it — is  not 
the  most  successful  man  who  works  the  hardest,  but  he 
who  can  inspire  and  organize  others.  We  are  proba- 
bly just  on  the  eve  of  our  best  progress  here.  Mr. 
Hammond  was  one  of  the  first  men  to  grasp  firmly 
the  truth,  that  a  public  revival  service  un  folio  wed  by 
the  close  quarters  of  heart  to  heart,  has  failed  at  the 
point  of  its  highest  success. 


REVIVALS   UNDER   HAMMOND.  193 

All  great  evangelists  are  enthusiasts.  It  was  a 
chief  charge  against  Paul,  against  Luther,  against 
Calvin,  against  Knox,  against  Whitefield  and  the 
Tennents.  Mr.  Hammond  owes  much  to  a  certain 
natural  enthusiasm  of  mind.  In  any  calling  he  would 
have  been  ardent,  impulsive,  enthusiastic.  This  state 
of  mind  sanctified  by  grace,  becomes  mighty  in  re- 
ligion. It  discounts  or  denies  the  discouragements, 
it  trangfigures  hope,  and  in  its  beautiful  light  turns 
it  into  success.  It  bridges  streams  and  levels  moun- 
tains, and  batters  down  walls.  It  enables  a  man  to 
make  the  most  of  himself,  the  most  of  his  opportuni- 
ties, the  most  of  the  grace  of  God.  It  pictures  above 
the  clouds  the  ideal  result  of  the  battle  begun  below. 
Standards  that  trail  here,  are  firmly  planted  and  flung 
out  triumphant  there.  Columns  that  are  weak  and 
wavering  here,  advance  with  level  front  there.  To 
that  ideal,  enthusiasm  holds  the  soldier,  and  under  its 
inspiration  he  fights  his  battle. 

We  stated  at  the  beginning  of  this  sketch  that  Mr. 
Hammond  was  a  pioneer  in  the  work  among  children. 
The  church,  will,  perhaps,  advance  by  increasing  ex- 
perience to  better  methods  than  have  yet  been  adopt- 
ed. But  the  essential  idea  that  supports  the  work 
among  children,  both  in  Sunday  schools  and  revival 
meetings,  that  little  ones  can  be  soundly  converted; 
that  the  law  of  spiritual  growth  from  very  feeble  be- 
ginnings, may  be  emphasized  in  religious  life,  and 
children  be  trained  up  in  the  church,  rather  than  re- 
covered to  it  after  prolonged  wandering,  is  one  that 
will  throw  heavenly  radiance  on  all  the  future  life  of 


194:  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

the  church.  It  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  these 
days  that  we  believe  will  shine  to  ever- fairer  light  as 
the  church  moves  on,  that  "  of  such  is  the  kingdom  o  f 
heaven."  Children  in  the  midst  of  the  disciples,  with 
Christ's  hands  on  their  heads,  is  a  historic  picture  on 
which  new  and  clearer  light  is  falling.  It  means  more 
to-day  than  it  ever  meant  before. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MODERN    EVANGELISM. 


We  have  traced  the  progress  of  revival  work  from 
its  beginning  in  this  country,  through  its  various  sta- 
ges, to  what  may  be  called  its  present  period.  We 
have  noted  that  each  epoch  has  had  its  peculiar  char- 
acteristics, both  as  to  origin  and  methods.  It  is  for 
us  now  to  note  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  revivals 
of  to-day.  It  may  be  written  down  in  a  single  phrase : 
This  is  the  period  of  revivals  through  evangelism. 
This  age  so  thoughtful,  so  intense,  so  practical  and 
fruitful  has  been  labeled  by  many  a  designation.  It 
is  an  age  of  dawning  liberty,  civil  and  religious. 
Even  now  it  is  being  struck  out  on  the  theater  of  a 
continent  in  "  the  clash  of  resounding  arms."  It  is 
an  age  of  science.  As  never  before,  the  world  lies 
open  to  the  explorer,  and  submits  her  facts  to  the  or- 
derly hand  of  science,  to  arrange  and  classify.  It  is 
the  age  of  brotherhood.  The  walls  of  caste  in  every 
land  are  lowered,  and  manhood  is  rising  to  its  premi- 
um. But,  considered  from  a  religious  point  of  view 
what  name  shall  we  write  across  this  age  in  which 
we  live?  It  is  not  distinctively  the  age  of  theology 
as  was  the  sixteenth  century,  that  formulated  creeds 
for  the  newly  unshackled  church;  it  is  not  an  ecclesi- 
astical age,  in  which  the  definition  and  defense  of  de 
nominations  is  the  principle  and  controlling  thought, 


193 


196  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

but  it  is  the  age  of  missions  and  revivals;  of  mis- 
sions, because  the  church  is  realizing,  with  the  vivid- 
ness of  the  first  century,  the  value  of  the  gospel  to 
perishing  nations,  and  by  the  help  of  various  agencies 
of  education,  civilization  and  national  intercourse  is 
inspired  with  the  purpose  of  preaching  the  gospel  to 
every  creature;  and  of  revivals  as  one  of  God's  most 
effective  methods  for  the  rapid  extension  of  the  king- 
dom, and  the  conquest  of  the  world.  The  special 
agency  which  Providence  seems  to  have  laid  at 
the  door  of  the  church  for  realizing  this  idea,  is 
evangelism.  Let  us  inquire  concerning  its  nature, 
its  scriptural  authority,  its  peculiar  opportunities,  its 
perils  and  its  limitations. 

FIRST,   WHAT  18    EVANGELISM? 

Two  principal  words  are  used  in  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment to  express  the  idea  which  in  English  is  expressed 
by  one  word — preaching.  One  of  these  is  the  official 
word,  which  means  to  herald.  The  Greek  Herald  was 
an  official  person  representing  the  king,  proclaiming 
by  royal  authority  whatever  the  king  desired  to  com- 
municate. This  person  was  an  embassador  in  the 
strict  sense  of  the  word.  He  wore  the  badge  of  a 
high  office.  His  word  was  the  word  of  royalty.  From 
the  heroic  age  of  Greece  his  office  was  sacred,  and 
his  person  inviolable  as  being  under  the  immedi- 
ate protection  of  Jupiter.  The  New  Testament  wri- 
ters, therefore,  who  use  words  with  great  precision, 
express  the  idea  of  office  or  an  official  message  by  the 
use  of  the  word  herald.  They  use  it  whenever  the 
principal  stress  of  the  idea  is  on  the  message  as  from 


EVANGELISM,  197 

God,  It  is  the  word  of  dogmatic  theology.  Thus  in 
1  Cor.  1:23  the  doctrine  which  the  apostle  preached 
was  "  Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews,  a  stumbling-block 
and  unto  the  Greeks,  foolishness,"  but  the  apostle 
preached  it  because  it  was  a  divine  doctrine  and  di- 
vinely true.  So  also  in  Mark  16:  15:  "  Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature:" 
the  divine  character  of  the  message  is  made  promi- 
nent in  the  very  word  of  the  commission. 

Again,  the  word  "  to  herald  "  is  used  to  give  promi- 
nence to  the  office  above  the  doctrine  or  message, 
which  is  conveyed.  This  is  distinctly  marked  in 
such  passages  as  Mark  3:14,  "  And  He  ordained  twelve 
that  He  might  send  them  forth  to  preach,"  and  Acts 
10 :42,  "And  He  commanded  us  to  preach  unto  the  peo- 
ple," and  1  Tim.  2:7,  "  Whereunto  I  am  ordained  a 
preacher  and  an  apostle,"  in  all  of  which  passages  the 
doctrine  is  not  the  leading  thought,  but  the  fact  that 
there  was  a  class  of  men  especially  authorized  and 
commanded  to  be  heralds. 

This  is  also  the  word  which  is  applied  to  official 
men  in  the  New  Testament,  to  John  the  Baptist,  to 
Jesus  and  to  the  Apostles. 

The  other  word,  usually  translated  by  the  general 
word  preach,  is  evangelize,  the  literal  meaning  of 
which  is  to  tell  the  good  news,  and  it  is  employed 
wherever  the  tidings  as  joyful  news  to  the  people  is 
the  leading  idea.  As  the  word  "  to  herald  "  is  the  word 
of  authority,  so  to  "evangelize  "  is  the  word  of  expe- 
rience. Thus  in  Gal.  1:16,  Paul  declares  the  revela- 
tion of  Christ  in  his  heart,  is  his  commission  to 
preach  (to   tell  the   good    news).     So   in   Eph.  3:3, 


198  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

he  speaks  "of  preaching  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ,"  where  the  wealth  of  glad  tidings  being  the 
burden  of  his  thought,  he  uses  the  word  which  will 
direct  attention  to  the  good  news  of  the  riches  of 
grace. 

Again,  as  we  would  expect,  this  word  is  employed 
whenever  the  apostle  would  humble  himself,  or  would 
conceal  his  office  under  the  news  which  it  conveyed. 
Whenever  he  would  for  any  reason  for  the  moment 
divest  himself  of  his  character  as  an  embassador,  and 
stand  only  as  a  man  among  men,  he  uses  the  unoffi- 
cial word  evangelize.  A  striking  instance  of  this 
is  recorded  in  Acts  14:15.  When  Paul  had  performed 
a  miracle  at  Lystra,  in  the  healing  of  a  lame  man, 
the  excited  populace,  naming  Barnabas,  Jupiter, and 
Paul,  Mercurius,  brought  oxen  and  garlands  to  the 
gate  to  do  sacrifice  to  the  preachers,  as  if  they  were 
gods.  Then  Paul  felt  he  must  lay  aside  every  au- 
thority, and  he  cried  out:  "Sirs,  why  do  ye  these 
things?  We  also,  are  men  of  like  passions  with 
you,  and  preach  unto  you  that  ye  should  turn  from 
these  vanities."  Here,  as  the  people  had  already  un- 
duly magnified  the  apostles,  it  was  meet  that  even  a 
word  which  might  convey  to  them  an  official  meaning 
should  be  avoided,  and  so  Paul  uses  the  word  evan- 
gelization, and  his  sentence  might  be,  paraphrased 
thus:  We  are  only  men — men  of  like  passions  with 
you — assuming  no  authority;  we  have  merely  come 
telling  you  the  good  news,  which  has  gladdened  our 
own  hearts. 

This  word  is  also  used  to  express  the  labors  of  un- 
ordained  men.     There    are   a   number   of  passages 


EVANGELISM.  199 

where  men,  not  set  apart  to  any  sacred  office,  are  rep- 
resented as  preaching.     These  passages  are  Acts  8:4, 
where  it  is  said  the  disciples  scattered  from  Jerusa- 
lem by  persecution  "  went  everywhere  preaching  the 
word;"  also   Acts  11:19  and   20,  "Now  they  which 
were   scattered  abroad  upon  the  persecution    which 
arose  about  Stephen,  traveled   as  far  as  Phenice,  and 
Cyprus,  and  Antioch,  preaching  the  word  to  none, 
but  unto  the  Jews  only.     And  some  of  them  were 
men  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene,  which  when  they  were 
come  to  Antioch,  spake  unto  the  Grecians,  preaching 
the  Lord  Jesus."     These,  and  other  cases  where  pri- 
vate persons  are  said  to  preach,  the  word  is  invaria- 
bly, evangelize.      They  preached,  but  the  very  word 
used,  the  word  that  laid  stress  on  the  message  and 
not  on  the  office,  and  on  the  message,  not  as  a  doc- 
trine, but  rather  as  an  experience  of  the  heart,  indi- 
cates the  difference  between  their  preaching  and  the 
preaching  of  the  apostles. 

From  this  analysis  we  learn  the  twofold  scriptural 
nature  of  preaching.  First,  it  is  heralding  the  doc- 
trines of  God  by  men  set  apart  to  that  authoritative 
and  special  work.  It  is  to  stand  as  an  embassador  be- 
tween God  and  man,  and  to  offer  eternal  life  through 
Jesus  Christ.  In  this  view  preaching  is  less  an  argu- 
ment, or  an  appeal,  than  an  announcement  and  an  of- 
fer. 

Preaching  is  also  telling  the  good  news.  It  is 
the  answer  of  one  man's  experience  to  the  profound 
questionings  of  another  man's  heart.  It  is  reproduc- 
ing the  gospel  from  the  depths  of  the  spirit,  in  which 
that  gospel  has  been  fused  and  tried,  and  proved  to 


200  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

be  good  news  of  God.  It  subordinates  the  idea  of 
office  to  that  of  experience  and  sympathy.  That 
is  the  truest  preaching  which,  holding  both  these 
ideas,  comes  with  ever  tenderer  testimony  and  en- 
treaty to  the  common  toils  and  struggles  of  men, 
which  makes  brotherhood  conquer  office,  and  transfig- 
ures the  robe  of  the  minister  in  the  light  of  a  broth- 
er's appeal. 

The  church  is  an  organized  body.  As  such  it  has 
officers,  orders  and  government.  The  officers  of  the 
church  are  called  bishops,  presbyters,  elders,  pastors, 
and  teachers,  whose  duty  it  is  to  preach,  to  teach,  to- 
rule,  to  feed  the  flock.  These  officers  were  appointed  by 
Holy  Ghost,  signifying  his  will  through  the  church, 
and  giving  it  effect  through  the  agency  of  the  church. 

Upon  the  relations  of  the  ministry  to  the  church, 
the  pendulum  of  Christian  thought  has  vibrated  be- 
tween two  extremes.  First  the  sacerdotal  extreme, 
in  which  the  office  is  exalted  at  the  expense  of  the 
message,  and  an  ordained  and  regularly  constituted 
priesthood  is  the  sole  depository  of  the  truth.  Sec- 
ond, the  ultra  democratic  view,  in  which  there  is  no 
idea  of  ambassadorship,  and  no  order  of  men  divine- 
ly commissioned  to  bear  the  gospel  to  their  fellows. 
There  are  evangelists,  and  every  man  who  chooses  to 
open  his  mouth  is  an  evangelist.  In  this  view  the  or- 
dination of  men  and  the  official  charge  to  them  to 
preach  the  gospel,  is  a  trick  of  the  trade,  a  device  of 
a  worn-out  priesthood.  On  this  theory,  if  one  man 
is  chosen  by  the  congregation  to  do  the  preaching  for 
them  and  give  his  time  exclusively  to  the  labors  in- 
cident to  the  ministry,  it  is  simply  an  economic  busi- 


EVANGELISM.  201 

ness  arrangement,  a  kind  of  co-operative  spiritual 
housekeeping,  where  one  steward  shall  do  the  cook- 
ing for  a  whole  community,  that  the  rest  of  the  people 
may  be  free  to  attend  to  more  congenial  pursuits 
The  idea  of  an  office  from  God,  an  office  and  a  work 
to  which  God  sends  a  man,  and  for  the  right  discharge 
of  which  God  holds  him  responsible,  is  wholly  dis- 
carded. The  preacher  is  simply  the  agent  of  men, 
and  accountable  solely  to  them. 

To  these  extremes  a  careful  study  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament will  furnish  the  sufficient  antidote.  The  two 
words  used  to  express  the  idea  of  preaching,  the  Her- 
ald and  the  Evangelist,  very  clearly  set  forth  the 
scriptural  idea  of  preaching,  both  on  the  divine  and 
human  side.  The  idea  in  the  former  word  is  best 
expressed  in  the  word  ambassador.  The  minister  is 
not  simply  a  messenger  nor  an  agent.  He  represents 
a  kingdom.  His  words  and  acts  attain  their  signifi- 
cance from  the  power  whose  representative  he  is.  On 
the  other  hand,  while  there  is  an  official  body  of  men 
chosen  by  the  Holy  Ghost  through  the  instrumental- 
ity of  the  church,  whose  business  it  is  to  make  the 
offer  of  God's  plan  of  mercy  to  the  world,  yet  the  pro- 
clamation of  glad  tidings  is  not  confined  to  this  body 
of  men.  There  is  no  patent  upon  telling  the  good 
news,  and  whosoever  will  may  proclaim  it.  If  then 
the  inquiry  be  raised,  Who  may  preach?  we  answer, 
everybody.  Who  should  repeat  the  glad  tidings  of 
salvation  for  sinners,  a  reconciled  Father,  an  open 
heaven?  Everybody  who  has  a  heart  to  feel  and  a 
tongue  to  speak  those  feelings.  There  is  a  scriptural 
basis,  therefore,  for  laj  preaching  in  the  very  word 


202  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

used  to  designate  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel   in 
the  first  century. 

As  Neander  remarks,  the  office  of  teaching  was 
not  committed  exclusively  to  presbyters  and  bish- 
ops, but  all  Christians  had  originally  the  right  of 
pouring  out  their  hearts  before  their  brethren,  and 
speaking  for  their  edification  in  the  public  assembly. 
In  truth,  the  new  dispensation  brought  in  a  univer- 
sal, Christian  priesthood,  and  every  one  was  encour- 
aged to  use  for  the  glory  of  God  the  gift  that  was  in 
him.  There  were  diversities  of  gifts,  of  course,  and 
some  were  therefore  fitted  for  the  regular  office  of 
teaching,  while  others  were  not.  But  so  great  was 
the  demand  for  telling  the  good  news  realized  to  be 
that  the  disciples  (not  apostles)  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  gospel.  This  common  right,  Neander 
further  says,  was  not  denied  until  the  age  of  Tertul- 
lian.  Even  then  there  was  a  strong  reaction  of  the 
primitive  Christian  consciousness  of  the  universal 
priesthood,  and  the  common  rights  grounded  thereon 
against  the  arrogated  power  of  that  particular  priest- 
hood, which  had  recently  begun  to  form  itself  on  the 
model  of  the  "  Old  Testament."  From  that  point 
onward  church  history  marks  a  gradual  and  constant 
encroachment  of  power  over  the  freedom  of  the 
church.  The  original  equality  of  spiritual  right  among 
Christians  was  more  and  more  obscured.  But  even 
as  late  as  the  third  century  it  was  maintained  in 
a  book,  pretty  wrell  imbued  with  a  hierarchical  spirit, 
and  that,  too,  under  the  assumed  authority  of  the 
apostle  Paul:  "  If  a  man,  though  a  layman,  is  skill- 
ful IN  EXPOUNDING  DOCTRINE,  AND  OF  VENERABLE  MAN- 


EVANGELISM.  203 

NERS  HE  MAY  BE  ALLOWED    TO    TEACH,  FOE  ALL    SHOULD 

be  taught  of  God."  If  the  study  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament in  the  passages  we  have  quoted  proves  the 
original  equal  right  of  all  Christians,  ordained  or  unor- 
dained,  to  spread  abroad  the  news  of  salvation,  it  is 
just  as  clear  from  the  early  history  of  the  church  that 
this  was  the  common  practice.  It  was  not  denied  un- 
til the  rising  spirit  of  ecclesiasticism  eclipsed  at  once 
the  early  personal  consecration,  and  the  spiritual 
rights  and  privileges  grounded  therein. 

We  have  said  it  is  one  of  the  distinguishing  char- 
acteristics of  this  age  that  lay  preaching  is  becoming 
an  element  of  increasing  Christian  power.  We  are 
returning  in  this  respect  to  the  early  centuries  of 
Christian  life.  The  church  is  not,  therefore,  enter- 
ing upon  an  innovation.  She  is  only  asserting  an 
original  right  of  all  truly  converted  souls, — a  right 
the  denial  of  which  was  rebuked  by  our  Lord  hi  in- 
self.  The  disciples  found  one  not  of  their  own  num- 
ber casting  out  devils  in  Christ's  name,  and  they  for- 
bade him.  It  was  an  irregular  procedure,  and  in  the 
minds  of  the  disciples  it  might  tend  to  mischief  in 
the  future.  Christ's  reply  was  very  emphatic,  tell- 
ing them  that  because  a  man  was  not  in  the  number 
of  the  disciples,  or  did  not  follow  their  methods,  he 
should  not  therefore  be  forbidden  to  cast  out  devils. 

special  opportunities. 

Not  only  was  lay  preaching  grounded  in  original 
right,  but  there  was  in  the  apostles'  times  a  necessity 
for  it.  The  world  was  to  be  evangelized.  There 
were  only  twelve  apostles.  Christ  had  commanded 
them   to   go   into   all    the   world   with   His   gospel. 


204  TIMES  Or  REFRESHING. 

There  was  only  one  way  in  which  it  could  be  done. 
All  the  sanctified  gifts  of  the  Church  must  be  used. 
He  that  heareth  must  say,  come.  The  apostles  could 
not  go  to  every  place.  They  could  not  remain  long 
at  any  one  of  their  numerous  mission  stations.  They 
must  call  native  converts  to  teach  and  preach  to  the 
people.  Only  by  such  a  multiplication  of  voices 
could  the  commission  be  fulfilled  in  the  short  time 
the  apostles  supposed  allotted  to  their  task.  There  is 
even  greater  necessity  now.  The  gospel  is  the  world's 
last,  best  hope.  If  light  does  not  shine  upon  the 
world's  doubt,  and  peace  do  not  come  to  its  troubles 
through  the  name  of  Jesus,  in  the  name  of  a  world- 
wide and  age-long  experiment,  we  have  a  ri^ht  to 
say,  light  and  peace  will  never  come  at  all. 

.Not  only  so,  but  the  world  is  vastly  larger  to  us 
than  it  was  to  Paul.  Its  nations,  kindreds,  tribes  and 
tongues  mean  more  to  us  than  they  ever  meant  be- 
fore. We  are  just  beginning  to  learn  how  many  are 
those  nations,  how  various  those  tongues.  In  the 
light  of  modern  science  the  breadth  of  our  commis- 
sion stands  revealed  to  us  as  never  before,  and  we  un- 
derstand as  we  have  not  understood  before,  that  if  the 
gospel  shall  penetrate  to  every  human  habitation, 
then  we  must  return  to  the  apostolic  idea  of  a  univer- 
sal Christian  priesthood,  and  the  sacred,  Christ-given 
obligation  resting  upon  all  who  have  received  glad 
tidings  in  their  own  hearts  to  send  them  abroad  to 
others. 

There  is  a  further  necessity  for  lay  evangelism. 
The  same  science  that  multiplies  the  nations  also  mul- 
tiplies the  appliances  for  reaching  them.     We  have 


EVANGELISM.  205 

facilities  for  missionary  work  that  are  new  and  con- 
stantly increasing.  A  missionary  can  go  to  the  anti- 
podes in  half  the  time  it  took  Paul  to  go  from  Cesa- 
rea  to  Rome.  Railroad  and  steamboat  lines  render 
accessible  all  the  great  national  centers  of  population. 
Not  only  so,  but  the  inter-communication  between 
the  most  remote  lands  brings  Christianity  and  heathen  - 
dom  into  the  most  constant  contact.  Hindoos  and 
Chinese  visit  Christian  lands,  enter  Christian  schools, 
and  in  every  way  submit  themselves  to  opportuni- 
ties of  learning  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

Not  only  does  science  open  the  way  to  heathen  na- 
tions, but  those  nations  themselves  open  the  door  in- 
vitingly to  every  good  message  we  can  bring  them. 
India,  through  all  her  magnificent  length  and  breadth, 
lies  open  not  only  to  British,  commerce,  but  to  the 
British.  Bible  Society,  and  China  and  Japan,  awak- 
ing from  the  slumber  of  untold  ages,  stretch  their 
hands  toward  our  western  coast,  and  invite  from 
our  civilization  the  best  we  can  give,  sending  their 
youth  to  our  colleges  to  learn  the  sciences  and  to  study 
the  genius  of  our  Christian  institutions. 

If  the  growth  of  the  missionary  spirit,  of  late  so 
wonderfully  aroused,  shall  meet  the  world's  demand 
for"  the  gospel,  it  is  plain  there  must  be  a  multiplica- 
tion of  agencies  and  increase  of  men.  The  regularly 
ordained  ministry  is  inadequate  to  meet  the  wants  of 
the  world.  There  are  ministers  enough  to  fill  the 
first-class  pulpits,  but  not  enough  to  fill  the  first-class 
fields.  When  Thomas  Chalmers  stood  at  the  Cow- 
gate  and  looked  down  upon  the  slums  of  Edin- 
burgh, with  a  fine  enthusiasm  for  souls,  he  exclaimed : 


206  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

"  It  is  a  beautiful  field."  There  is  not  in  any  part  of 
the  earth  a  place  so  sin -wrapped  and  sin-cursed  that 
to  the  eye  of  faith  may  not  be  bright  with  beautiful 
spiritual  harvest.  The  desolate  places  of  our  own 
land  need  a  human  voice.  The  dark  drifts  of  hea- 
then population  can  be  illumined  only  by  the  Lamp 
of  Life  offered  by  human  messengers. 

The  inadequacy  of  the  ministry  to  overtake  this 
world-wide  want  cannot  be  met  by  lowering  the  qual- 
ifications or  shortening  the  course  of  those  who  are  to 
be  the  official  heralds  of  the  cross,  for  there  is  a  de- 
mand, not  only  for  more  words,  but  for  deeper  ones. 
"We  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  truth  that  we  are  to 
"  bring  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience 
of  Christ,"  as  well  as  all  people.  Christianity  must 
not  only  plant  her  standards  on  the  world's  farther 
shore,  but  she  must  hold  her  lines  amidst  the  world's 
culture  and  science.  Therefore,  we  need  enlarged 
preparation  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  to  defend 
these  lines.  We  cannot  afford  to  convert  the  Joseph 
Cooks  into  the  D.  L.  Moodys.  The  same  demand 
which  claims  the  one  is  persistent  in  calling  for  the 
other.  We  conclude,  then,  that  the  distinction  which 
obtained  in  the  early  Church  between  those  who  were 
advanced  to  the  regular  office  of  teaching  in  the 
Church,  and  the  much  larger  number,  who  exercised 
whatever  gifts  they  had  in  whatever  place  they  could 
gain  a  hearing,  need  not  be,  and  should  not  be,  sacri- 
ficed now.  Between  a  regular  ministry  and  lay 
preaching,  there  is  not  only  consistency,  but  harmony 
and  mutual  dependence. 


EVANGELISM.  207 

DANGERS  OF  LAY  EVANGELISM. 

Emerson  says:  "  There  is  among  men  an  insane 
tendency  to  go  to  extremes."  It  were  not  strange  if 
a  touch  of  this  insanity  were  developed  in  modern 
revival  movements.  The  zeal  that  springs  the  bow  to 
the  arrow's  head  may  sometimes  send  it  beyond  the 
mark.  Evangelism  is  not,  as  we  have  shown,  a  new 
experiment.  It  cannot  be  criticised  as  something 
which  has  just  sprung  into  notice,  the  capabilities  of 
which  are  for  the  first  time  put  to  the  test.  It  has 
been  the  advance-guard  of  some  of  the  best  move- 
ments in  Church  history.  Nevertheless,  the  evangel- 
ism of  to-day  has  new  and  peculiar  features.  It 
enters  new  fields  and  enlists  in  its  aid  new  methods. 
In  these  methods  it  may  be  considered  an  experiment, 
and  the  question  of  its  permanent  success  still  open 
to  debate.  Let  us  glance  at  some  of  the  strictures 
that  are  made  upon  it. 

1.  It  is  claimed  it  disparages  the  regular  ministry. 
We  have  shown  for  this  there  is  no  necessary  reason. 
Ministers  and  lay  preachers  have  spheres  of  their 
own,  whose  circles  do  not  cut.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  see  but  little  tendency  in  the  direction  criticised. 
The  most  successful  evangelists  will  not  move  in  any 
place  without  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  ministry. 
It  cannot  be  charged  upon  men  like  Moody  and  Ham- 
mond that  they  lack  in  any  recognition  of  the  office 
of  the  ministry,  or  in  any  politeness  to  ministers. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  best  and  most  successful  min- 
isters have  not  failed  to  stand  by  these  revivalists;  to 
show  their  sympathy  and  confidence  by  their  personal 


210  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

and  uncalled  ministry.  We  take  it  as  a  fact  Church 
history  will  vindicate,  that  long-continued  prosperity 
in  Christian  work  is  a  sign  of  divine  approval.  They 
who  have  that  seal  upon  their  labors  may  be  open  to 
criticism  upon  many  sides,  may  offend  taste,  violate 
proprieties,  and  roughly  cross  the  path  of  ordinary 
church  life  and  work,  but  they  cannot  thereby  be  dis- 
credited. The  duty  of  the  Church  in  regard  to  such 
is  to  commend  the  work,  which  seems  manifestly  of 
God,  while  leaving  the  human  eccentricity  in  its  own 
place,  for  criticism  and  judgment.  God,  for  the  sake 
of  the  kingdom,  overlooks  a  great  deal  in  the  best  of 
His  servants.  The  Church  should  cultivate  a  like 
charitable  temper.  There  is  no  absolute  rule  by  which 
religious  work  can  be  squared  and  cut;  the  result 
must  measure  it.  The  golden  sheen  of  the  harvest 
will  disclose  the  nature  of  the  seed.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, not  be  unduly  anxious  lest,  in  the  great  increase 
of  laborers  in  the  vineyard,  some  are  idlers,  some  are 
worthless.  They  will  drop  to  their  own  place.  The 
ranks  will  close  up  again  with  better  material  and  the 
harvest  will  go  on. 

3.  It  is  feared  that  the  novelty  and  excitement 
attendant  upon  evangelistic  labors  will,  in  the  minds 
of  many  Christians,  produce  a  feeling  of  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  ordinary,  regular  and  quieter  means  of 
grace.  To  our  minds,  this  stricture  is  not  without 
force.  Important  as  is  the  conversion  of  souls,  the 
edification  of  believers  is  hardly  less  so.  Building 
them  up  on  the  foundations  of  the  truth  is  the  neces- 
sary and  perpetual  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry.  This 
work,  without  noise  or  demonstration,  goes  quietly  on 


EVANGELISM.  211 

from  year  to  year.  On  the  fidelity  with  which  it  is  done 
depends  largely  the  future  life  and  growth  of  the 
kingdom.  Let  us  not,  therefore,  disparage  it  because 
it  does  not  respond  favorably  to  revival  tests. 

The  force  of  this  criticism  will  be  considerably 
lessened  if  evangelistic  labors  are  devoted  chiefly  to 
the  gathering  of  churchless  masses  to  the  sound  of 
the  truth.  Then  the  tide  wave  that  fills  the  Taberna- 
cle from  the  streets  and  alleys  of  a  great  city  will,  in 
its  refluent  movement,  bear  them  into  the  churches, 
to  be  a  new  and  stimulating  element  there,  and,  in 
turn,  to  become  messengers  of  help  and  blessing  to 
others,  who  are  without  God  and  without  hope  in  the 
world.  Should  evangelistic  movement  widen  and 
deepen,  as  now  seems  probable,  it  may  develop  ten- 
dencies which  need  to  be  checked;  tendencies  which 
need  to  be  avoided.  For  that  time,  should  it  come, 
the  sanctified  wisdom  of  the  Church  may  be  relied 
upon  to  deal  rightly  with  the  questions  it  may  pre- 
sent. Meantime  the  present  duty  of  the  Church 
seems  plain.  In  view  of  the  New  Testament  author- 
ity for  encouraging  the  proclamation  of  the  truth  by 
all  who  have  felt  it,  in  view  of  the  success  which 
attended  this  evangelism  in  the  first  Christian  eras,  in 
view  of  the  favor  of  God,  which  is  manifestly  upon  it 
now,  in  view  of  the  ever-increasing  demand  for 
Christian  labor,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  Church 
should  recognize  as  of  God  the  evangelistic  movement 
that  distinguishes  this  time.  She  should  encourao-e 
those  whose  gifts  and  labors  qualify  them  to  go  out 
into  that  field,  which  is  the  world,  and  call  men  to 
repentance  and  faith. 


210  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

and  uncalled  ministry.  We  take  it  as  a  fact  Church 
history  will  vindicate,  that  long-continued  prosperity 
in  Christian  work  is  a  sign  of  divine  approval.  They 
who  have  that  seal  upon  their  labors  may  be  open  to 
criticism  upon  many  sides,  may  offend  taste,  violate 
proprieties,  and  roughly  cross  the  path  of  ordinary 
church  life  and  work,  but  they  cannot  thereby  be  dis- 
credited. The  duty  of  the  Church  in  regard  to  such 
is  to  commend  the  work,  which  seems  manifestly  of 
God,  while  leaving  the  human  eccentricity  in  its  own 
place,  for  criticism  and  judgment.  God,  for  the  sake 
of  the  kingdom,  overlooks  a  great  deal  in  the  best  of 
His  servants.  The  Church  should  cultivate  a  like 
charitable  temper.  There  is  no  absolute  rule  by  which 
religious  work  can  be  squared  and  cut;  the  result 
must  measure  it.  The  golden  sheen  of  the  harvest 
will  disclose  the  nature  of  the  seed.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, not  be  unduly  anxious  lest,  in  the  great  increase 
of  laborers  in  the  vineyard,  some  are  idlers,  some  are 
worthless.  They  will  drop  to  their  own  place.  The 
ranks  will  close  up  again  with  better  material  and  the 
harvest  will  go  on. 

3.  It  is  feared  that  the  novelty  and  excitement 
attendant  upon  evangelistic  labors  will,  in  the  minds 
of  many  Christians,  produce  a  feeling  of  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  ordinary,  regular  and  quieter  means  of 
grace.  To  our  minds,  this  stricture  is  not  without 
force.  Important  as  is  the  conversion  of  souls,  the 
edification  of  believers  is  hardly  less  so.  Building 
them  up  on  the  foundations  of  the  truth  is  the  neces- 
sary and  perpetual  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry.  This 
work,  without  noise  or  demonstration,  goes  quietly  on 


EVANGELISM.  211 

from  year  to  year.  On  the  fidelity  with  which  it  is  done 
depends  largely  the  future  life  and  growth  of  the 
kingdom.  Let  us  not,  therefore,  disparage  it  because 
it  does  not  respond  favorably  to  revival  tests. 

The  force  of  this  criticism  will  be  considerably 
lessened  if  evangelistic  labors  are  devoted  chiefly  to 
the  gathering  of  churchless  masses  to  the  sound  of 
the  truth.  Then  the  tide  wave  that  fills  the  Taberna- 
cle from  the  streets  and  alleys  of  a  great  city  will,  in 
its  refluent  movement,  bear  them  into  the  churches, 
to  be  a  new  and  stimulating  element  there,  and,  in 
turn,  to  become  messengers  of  help  and  blessing  to 
others,  who  are  without  God  and  without  hope  in  the 
world.  Should  evangelistic  movement  widen  and 
deepen,  as  now  seems  probable,  it  may  develop  ten- 
dencies which  need  to  be  checked;  tendencies  which 
need  to  be  avoided.  For  that  time,  should  it  come, 
the  sanctified  wisdom  of  the  Church  may  be  relied 
upon  to  deal  rightly  with  the  questions  it  may  pre- 
sent. Meantime  the  present  duty  of  the  Church 
seems  plain.  In  view  of  the  New  Testament  author- 
ity for  encouraging  the  proclamation  of  the  truth  by 
all  who  have  felt  it,  in  view  of  the  success  which 
attended  this  evangelism  in  the  first  Christian  eras,  in 
view  of  the  favor  of  God,  which  is  manifestly  upon  it 
now,  in  view  of  the  ever-increasing  demand  for 
Christian  labor,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  Church 
should  recognize  as  of  God  the  evangelistic  movement 
that  distinguishes  this  time.  She  should  encourage 
those  whose  gifts  and  labors  qualify  them  to  go  out 
into  that  field,  which  is  the  world,  and  call  men  to 
repentance  and  faith. 


CHAPTER  X. 

MOODY  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

Dwight  Lyman  Moody  was  born  Feb.  5,  1837,  at 
ISTorthfield,  Mass.  He  was  the  sixth  child  of  Edwin 
and  Betsy  Holton  Moody.  His  mother  is  a  descend- 
ant of  ¥m.  Holton,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  ISTorth- 
field on  a  tract  of  land  purchased  from  the  Indians  in 
1673.  When  Dwight  was  only  four  years  of  age  his 
father  suddenly  died,  leaving  a  family  of  seven  chil- 
dren, the  oldest  but  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  with  no 
property  for  their  support,  save  a  little  house  with  an 
acre  or  two  of  land,  and  even  this  incumbered  with 
debt.  The  mother  of  this  helpless  family  was  not  an 
ordinary  woman.  Endowed  with  great  force  of  char- 
acter and  strength  of  both  body  and  mind,  she  picked 
up  her  burden  of  poverty  and  toil  and  struggled  on 
as  best  she  could,  until  her  children,  who  had  been 
her  anxiety  and  care,  became  her  comfort  and  sup- 
port By  her  frugality  and  good  management,  and 
by  the  enterprise  of  her  sons,  they  have  now  a  com- 
fortable property.  Mr.  Moody  has  built  a  house  for 
himself  near  the  family  homestead,  which  has  become 
his  retreat  from  the  exhaustive  labors  of  revival  cam- 
paigns. 

His  early  education  was  exceedingly  limited.  A 
few  terms  at  the  district  school  afforded  all  the  edu- 

212 


(^>j£.2^ 


MOODY   IN   GREAT   BRITAIN.  213 

cational  opportunities  his  boyhood  had.  His  expe- 
rience at  school  is  given  in  one  of  his  sermons,  and  it 
serves  to  illustrate  at  once  his  life  and  his  doctrine: 
"  At  the  school  I  used  to  go  to  when  I  was  a  boy,  we 
had  a  teacher  who  believed  in  governing  by  law.  He 
used  to  keep  a  rattan  in  his  desk,  and  my  back  tin- 
gles now  as  I  think  of  it.  But  after  awhile  the  notion 
got  abroad  among  the  people  that  a  school  might  be 
governed  by  love,  and  the  district  was  divided  into 
what  I  might  call  the  law  party  and  the  grace  party; 
the  law  party  standing  by  the  old  schoolmaster,  with 
his  rattan,  and  the  grace  party  wanting  a  teacher  who 
could  get  along  without  punishing  so  much. 

"  After  awhile  the  grace  party  got  the  upper  hand, 
turned  out  the  old  master,  and  hired  a  young  lady  to 
take  his  place.  We  all  understood  that  there  was  to 
be  no  rattan  that  winter,  and  we  looked  forward  to 
having  the  jolliest  kind  of  a  time.  On  the  first 
morning  the  new  teacher,  whom  I  will  call  Miss 
Grace,  opened  the  school  with  reading  out  of  the  Bi- 
ble, and  prayer.  That  was  a  new  thing,  and  we  didn't 
quite  know  what  to  make  of  it.  She  told  us  she 
didn't  mean  to  keep  order  by  punishment,  but  she 
hoped  we  would  all  be  good  children,  for  her  sake  as 
well  as  our  own.  This  made  us  a  little  ashamed  of 
the  mischief  we  had  meant  to  do,  and  every  thing 
went  on  pretty  well  for  a  few  days;  but  pretty  soon 
I  broke  one  of  the  rules,  and  Miss  Grace  said  I  was 
to  stop  that  night  after  school.  Now  for  the  old  rat- 
tan, said  I  to  myself;  it's  coming  now,  after  all.  But 
when  the  scholars  were  all  gone  she  came  and  sat 
down  by  me,  and  told  me  how  sorry  she  was  that  I, 


214  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

who  was  one  of  the  biggest  boys,  and  might  help  her 
so  much,  was  setting  such  a  bad  example  to  the  others 
and  making  it  so  hard  for  her  to  get  along  with  them. 
She  said  she  loved  us,  and  wanted  to  help  us,  and  if 
we  loved  her  we  would  obey  her,  and  then  every 
thing  would  go  on  well.  There  were  tears  in  her 
eyes  as  she  said  this,  and  I  didn't  know  what  to  make 
of  it,  for  no  teacher  had  ever  talked  that  way  to  me 
before.  I  began  to  feel  ashamed  of  myself  for  being 
so  mean  to  any  one  who  was  so  kind;  and  after  that 
she  didn't  have  any  more  trouble  with  me,  nor  with 
any  of  the  other  scholars,  either.  She  just  took  -us 
out  from  under  the  Law  and  put  us  under  Grace." 

About  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  went  to  Boston  to 
be  trained  for  business  in  the  establishment  of  his 
uncles,  Samuel  and  Lemuel  Hoi  ton.  His  family  were 
Unitarians.  At  this  period  of  his  life,  therefore,  he 
knew  little  about  evangelical  religion,  although  the 
Unitarianism  of  his  mother's  family  was  quite  differ- 
ent from  that  which  passes  under  the  same  name 
now.  He  began  to  attend  the  Mt.  Yernon  church 
and  Sunday  school,  and  we  can  imagine  the  effect  the 
clear  and  pungent  preaching  of  old  Dr.  Kirk  had 
upon  his  quick  and  inquiring  mind.  Sometimes  the 
doctor  would,  as  it  seemed  to  young  Moody,  get  very 
prosy;  then  he  would  go  to  sleep  in  a  corner  of  the 
gallery  till  some  vigilant  deacon  would  give  him  a 
nudge,  recall  his  attention  to  the  preacher,  and  bid 
him  listen  to  the  sermon.  In  this  way  Mr.  Moody 
got  his  early  views  of  theology  and  his  first  relig- 
ious impressions.  He  had  few  friends  in  the  great 
city.     He  was  poor  and  often  lonely,  but  was  already 


MOODY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  'J  15 

beginning  to  develop  those  traits  which  afterward 
made  him  a  most  successful  business  man,  and  final- 
ly the  most  successful  revivalist.  In  these  days  his 
chief  solace  was  in  the  memory  of  his  good  home  in 
Northfield,  and  in  the  words  of  love  and  counsel  he 
received  from  the  loved  ones  there.  In  one  of  his 
sermons,  in  a  fine  appreciation  of  the  humor  of  the 
situation,  he  tells  us  the  effect  of  a  letter  he  received 
from  his  sister.  She  was  full  of  solicitude  for  him, 
but  the  chief  burden  of  her  anxiety  was  that  he 
should  remember  he  was  in  a  city  full  of  dishonest 
people,  and  especially  to  beware  of  pick-pockets.  As 
there  was  at  that  time  absolutely  nothing  in  his 
pockets  to  be  picked,  the  caution  appeared  to  him  as 
intensely  amusing,  as  it  was  wholly  unnecessary. 
Under  the  sermons  of  his  pastor,  and  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  his  Sunday  school  teacher,  his 
mind  was  gradually  turned  to  the  subject  of  religion. 
As  his  mind  became  informed,  and  his  conscience 
awakened,  his  rebellious  will  beg-an  to  set  itself 
against  the  claims  of  the  gospel.  Sometimes  he 
would  leave  the  church  with  the  purpose  not  to  re- 
turn to  it,  but  even  then  the  Spirit  of  God  was  taking 
hold  of  the  young  man  and  dealing  with  him  for  the 
preparation  of  his  future  work.  He  would  come 
back  again  to  hear  Dr.  Kirk's  appeal  ;  he  would  sub- 
mit himself  again  to  the  influence  of  his  godly  Sun- 
day school  teacher.  At  length,  he  surrendered  him- 
self to  the  claims  of  Christ.  He  never  did  any  thin  o- 
by  halves;  his  conversion,  therefore,  was  a  complete 
moral  and  spiritual  revolution.  The  energy  he 
had    used    in  his  business  and  in  his  own    interest 


216  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

or  pleasure,  he  transferred  to  the  Savior.  His 
life  had  taken  its  new  and  endless  direction,  and  his 
religion  speedily  became  to  him  what  it  has  ever 
since  been,  the  one  absorbing  passion  of  his  life. 

A  Christian,  in  his  thought,  ought  to  be  an  enlibted 
soldier  in  the  army  of  Christ.  He  did  what  since  he 
has  so  constantly  urged  others  to  do — offered  himself 
to  the  Church  for  membership.  The  committee  de- 
bated, hesitated,  and  finally  rejected  him.  They  did 
not  discourage  him  in  his  Christian  life,  but  insisted 
that  he  should  wait  awhile.  He  could  give  so  little 
reason  for  the  hope  that  was  in  him,  his  knowledge  Was 
so  limited,  his  experience  so  obscure,  they  put  him  on  a 
kind  of  probation,  kindly  appointing,  however,  a 
committee  to  watch  over  and  help  him.  At  the  end 
of  this  period  he  was  received  into  the  Church.  The 
fire  in  his  bones  would  not  let  him  altogether  hold  his 
peace.  He  tried  occasionally  to  blunder  through 
a  prayer,  or  a  few  words  of  remark,  but  so 
unacceptable  to  the  Church  were  these  first  at- 
tempts that  his  uncle  was  asked  to  keep  his  nephew 
still.  It  is  related  in  one  of  the  lives  of  Mr.  Moody 
that  when  he  was  first  becoming  known  as  a  Chris- 
tian worker  in  Chicago,  a  member  of  the  Mt.  Yer- 
non  Church,  visiting  a  friend  at  the  West,  spoke 
slightingly  of  the  religious  life  of  that  section  of  the 
country,  because  such  men  as  Moody  were  allowed 
such  prominence  in  it,  saying  :  "  When  we  had  him 
in  our  church  we  wouldn't  let  him  speak  in  our  prayer 
meetings."  A  number  of  years  after  Mr.  Moody's 
removal  to  Chicago,  Dr.  Kirk,  during  a  visit  to  the 
West,  assisted  Mr.  Moody  nearly  a  week  in  his  mis- 


MOODY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  217 

8ionary  labors.  So  greatly  was  lie  impressed  with 
the  changes  wrought  in  a  few  years  that  on  his  return 
home  he  called  upon  Mr.  Hoi  ton,  and  said  :  "  I  told 
our  people  last  night  that  we  ought  to  be  ashamed 
of  ourselves.  There  is  that  young  Moody  who,  we 
thought,  did  not  know  enough  to  be  in  our  church, 
exerting  a  greater  influence  for  Christ  than  any  other 
man  in  the  great  Northwest." 

In  1856  Mr.  Moody  came  to  Chicago.  His  first 
employer  in  that  city  said  of  him  :  "  His  ambition 
made  him  anxious  to  lay  up  money.  His  personal 
habits  were  exact  and  economical.  As  a  salesman  he 
was  the  same  zealous  and  tireless  worker  that  he  after- 
ward became  in  religion."  His  first  religious  home 
was  Plymouth  Congregational  Church.  His  first  re- 
ligious work  was  to  rent  four  pews  in  that  church  and 
fill  them  every  Sunday  with  young  men.  But  lie 
longed  for  more  to  do,  and  at  once  began  looking  around 
to  find  his  work.  There  was  a  little  Sunday  school 
on  North  Wells  street,  to  the  superintendent  of  which 
he  offered  himself  one  morning  to  teach  a  class.  The 
reply  was  :  "  You  may  have  a  class  if  you  will  go  into 
the  street  and  get  it."  He  was  stirring  betimes  the 
next  Sunday  morning,  and  when  the  Sunday  school 
opened, young  Moody  was  at  the  door  heading  a  strag- 
gling procession  of  eighteen  ragged  urchins.  He  had 
found  his  work.  Glasgow,  Dublin,  London,  and  the 
great  cities  of  our  own  country,  with  their  countless 
thousands  thronging  our  great  tabernacles,  may  look 
across  twenty  years  to  that  motley  group  at  the  San- 
day  school  door  as  the  insignificant  beginning  of 
their  marvelous  results.     Personal  work,  the  touch  of 


218  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

a  s j m pathetic  mind  and  a  loving  heart  upon  other 
minds  and  hearts,  drew  together  that  straggling  band. 
The  same  force,  almighty  in  the  kingdom  of  grace, 
draws  together  the  great  multitudes  that  are  gathered 
in  the  present  revivals.  The  method  was  not  new 
with  Moody.  He  learned  it  from  the  greater  Leader, 
who  went  up  and  down  the  shores  of  Galilee,  up  and 
down  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  with  a  heart  large 
enough  to  rind  a  brother  in  every  suffering  fellow, 
and  to  love  not  the  church  or  humanity,  but  the 
men,  women  and  children,  who  were  in  sickness,  sin 
and  trouble  around  Him. 

Mr.  Moody  did  not  teach  the  class  he  had  gathered. 
He  was  not  very  well  qualified  for  it,  and  he  had 
found  something  that,  for  him,  was  better.  He  turned 
that  class  over  to  another  teacher,  and  went  out  and 
gathered  in  others  and  others,  until  the  school  was 
full  and  the  recruiting  officer  for  that  school  was  no 
longer  needed.  Then  he  started  a  school  of  his  own. 
He  began  it  in  the  very  worst  part  of  the  city,  a  dis- 
trict called  "  The  Sands,"  surrounded  by  saloons  and 
gambling  dens.  It  was  on  the  North  Side,  the  coun- 
terpart of  the  "DeviFs  Half  Acre  "  on  the  South 
Side.  It  began  in  a  deserted  saloon,  rapidly  outgrew 
its  limits,  and  was  then  moved  to  the  "  North  Market 
Hall."  The  room  was  large  and  commodious,  but  it 
had  its  disadvantages.  On  Saturday  nights  it  was 
used  tor  a  dance.  Sunday  mornings  the  young  mis- 
sionary was  fully  occupied  clearing  out  the  sawdust, 
tobacco  juice  and  beer  barrels.  There  were  no  benches. 
The  school  stood  up,  or,  in  Turkish  fashion,  sat  on  the 
jdoor.     But  Mr.  Moody  wanted  things  comfortable,  so 


MOODY   IN   GBEAT   BRITAIN.  219 

he  went  around  the  city  and  solicited  money  to  buy 
benches.  One  of  the  men  he  approached  was  John 
V.  Farwell.  After  getting  his  subscription,  Mr. 
Moody  invited  him  over  to  visit  the  school.  The 
next  Sunday  the  distinguished  merchant  made  his 
appearance.  He  found  the  school  full  of  howling 
young  Arabs,  in  all  possible  postures,  making  Sun- 
day hideous  with  all  sorts  of  cries,  behaving  in  gene- 
ral like  anything  but  a  Sunday  school.  Before  he 
knew  it  Mr.  Moody  had  nominated  him  to  the  super- 
intendency,  put  the  motion,  had  it  carried,  and  in- 
ducted him  to  the  office.  In  vain  he  protested.  Mr. 
Moody  picks  his  men  with  great  sagacity  and  presses 
them  to  their  places  with  absolute  command.  From 
that  time  the  North  Mission  became  one  of  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  city.  The  attendance  ran  up  rapidly 
to  six  or  seven  hundred,  and  often  more.  They  came 
as  the  first  eighteen  came,  under  the  influence  of  per- 
sonal approach  and  persuasion.  II.  Thane  Miller,  once 
in  a  Christian  convention  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Cincinnati,  being  called  on  for  a  speech 
upon  the  question,  "How  shall  the  masses  be  reached?*' 
made  the  shortest  and  most  effective  speech  of  his 
life.  It  was  this  :  "  If  you  want  the  masses,  in  the 
language  of  the  boys,  'go  for  them.'  "  It  was  thus 
the  North  Market  Mission  was  filled  and  kept  full. 
Mr.  Moody  devoted  his  evenings,  often  until  a  late 
hour,  going  for  the  heathen  on  "  The  Sands,"  and  on 
Sunday  he  and  a  band  of  like-minded  friends  gath- 
ered boys  and  girls  from  the  purlieus  of  vice  and  crime, 
and  brought  them  under  the  influence  of  the  gospel 
in  the  mission.      Many   of  them,  indeed,  would  re- 


220  TIMES    Or    REFRESHING. 

main  but  a  few  weeks,  but  who  shall  tell  unto  what 
harvest,  a  single  text,  lodged  in  an  active  mind,  may 
grow  ?  "We  have  not  space  to  follow  Mr.  Moody 
through  the  years  of  this  remarkable  work,  although 
they  were  formative  years,  and  of  the  utmost  influ- 
ence in  his  future  career.  They  gave  the  tone  to  all 
his  future  preaching.  His  one  book  was  the  Bible. 
The  one  subject  taught  in  his  school  was  the  gospel 
of  the  grace  of  God.  His  teachers  were  of  all  de- 
nominations. He  required  of  them  only  this,  that 
they  be  able  to  point  out  clearly  the  way  of  salvation. 
He  worked  for  the  reformation  of  the  community, 
but  he  expected  it  only  through  the  conversion  of  the 
soul.  Among  the  religious  experiences  of  this  time, 
Mr.  Moody  relates  the  following.  It  illustrates  his 
wisdom,  courage  and  faith: 

"  One  of  our  friends  reported  a  family  where  there 
were  several  children  who  were  *  due '  at  the  North 
Market  School,  but  whose  father  was  a  notorious  in- 
fidel rum-seller,  and  wouldn't  let  them  come. 

"I  called  on  him;  but  as  soon  as  I  made  known 
my  errand  I  was  obliged  to  get  out  of  that  place  very 
quickly,  in  order  to  save  my  head. 

"  *  I  would  rather  my  son  should  be  a  thief,  and  my 
daughter  a  harlot,  than  have  you  make  fools  and 
Christians  of  them  over  there  at  your  Sunday  school,' 
6aid  he. 

"  One  day  I  found  the  man  in  a  little  better  humor 
than  usual,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  ever  read  the 
New  Testament.  He  said  he  hadn't,  and  then  asked 
me  if  I  had  ever  read  Paine's  <  Age  of  Reason.'     He 


MOODY   IN   GREAT   BRITAIN.  221 

then  agreed  to  read  the  Testament  if  I  would  read 
Paine's  book. 

"  He  had  the  best  of  the  bargain;  but  it  gave  me  a 
chance  to  call  again  to  bring  the  book.  After  wading 
through  that  mass  of  infidel  abominations  I  called  on 
him  again,  to  see  how  he  got  on  with  the  Testament, 
but  found  him  full  of  objections  and  hot  for  de- 
bate. 

"  '  See  here,  young  man,'  said  he;  ' you  are  invit- 
ing me  and  my  family  to  go  to  meeting;  now  you 
may  have  a  meeting  here,  if  you  like.' 

"  '  What!  will  you  let  me  preach  here  in  your  sa- 
loon V 

"  '  Yes,'  he  said. 

'l '  And  will  you  bring  in  your  family,  and  let  me 
bring  in  the  neighbors?' 

"  4  Yes.  But  mind,  you  are  not  to  do  all  the  talk- 
ing.    I  and  my  friends  will  have  something  to  say.' 

"  '  All  right.  You  shall  have  forty-five  minutes, 
and  I  will  have  fifteen.' 

"  The  time  for  the  meeting  was  set,  and  when  I 
got  there  I  found  a  great  crowd  of  atheists,  blasphe- 
mers and  other  wild  characters  waiting  for  a  chance  to 
make  mince-meat  of  me,  and  use  up  the  New  Testa- 
ment forever. 

"• '  You  shall  begin,'  said  I. 

"  Upon  this  they  began  to  ask  questions. 

"  '  No  questions!  I  haven't  come  to  argue  with  you, 
but  to  preach  Christ  to  you.  Go  on  and  say  what 
you  like,  and  then  I  will  speak.' 

"Then  they  began  to  talk  among  themselves;  but 
it  wasn't  long  before  they  quarreled  over  their  own 


$22  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

different  unbeliefs,  so  that  what  began  as  a  debate 
was  in  danger  of  ending  in  a  fight. 

"  '  Order!  Your  time  is  up.  I  am  in  the  habit  of 
beginning  my  addresses  with  prayer.    Let  us  pray.' 

" '  Stop !  stop !'  said  one.  '  There's  no  use  in  your 
praying.  Besides,  your  Bible  says  there  must  be 
"  two  agreed  "  if  there  is  to  be  any  praying;  and  you 
are  all  alone.' 

"  I  replied  that  perhaps  some  of  them  might  feel 
like  praying  before  I  got  through,  and  so  T  opened 
my  heart  to  God. 

"  When  I  had  finished,  a  little  boy,  who  had  been 
converted  in  the  Mission  School  and  had  come  with 
me  to  this  strange  meeting,  began  to  pray.  His 
childish  voice  and  simple  faith  at  once  attracted 
the  closest  attention.  As  he  went  on  telling 
the  Lord  all  about  these  wicked  men,  and  begging 
him  to  help  them  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Holy 
Ghost  fell  upon  the  assembly.  A  great  solemnity 
came  over  those  hard-hearted  infidels  and  scoffers; 
there  was  not  a  dry  eye  in  the  room.  Pretty  soon 
they  began  to  be  frightened.  They  rushed  out,  some 
by  one  door  and  some  by  the  other — did  not  stop  to 
hear  a  word  of  the  sermon,  but  fled  from  the  place  as 
though  it  had  been  haunted. 

"  As  a  result  of  this  meeting  we  captured  all  the  old 
infidel's  children  for  our  Sunday  school,  and  a  little 
while  after  the  man  himself  stood  up  in  the  noonday 
prayer  meeting  and  begged  us  to  pray  for  his  misera- 
ble soul." 

We  have  now  reached  a  point  where  it  will  be 
necessary  to  note  the  connection  of  the  present  evan- 


MOOPY    TN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  223 

gelistic  movements  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  The  first  Association  was  organized  by  a 
band  of  active,  consecrated  young  men  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  about  the  year  1845.  The  Association  of 
Cincinnati  dates  back  to  about  the  same  time.  For 
many  years  they  were  looked  upon  with  suspicion  and 
distrust.  Conservative  men  regarded  them  as  an  out- 
side agency,  without  direct  scriptural  authority,  of 
doubtful  good,  and  with  many  tendencies  to  evil. 
They  were  very  generally  so  considered  at  the  time 
when  Mr.  Moody  identified  himself  with  the  Associa- 
tion, which  had  just  been  formed  in  Chicago.  He  saw 
in  it  the  very  hand  he  wanted  for  reaching  the  masses 
of  the  city.  Although  Christian  associations  had  ex- 
isted before  the  great  revivals  of  1857  and  1858,  they 
first  sprang  into  a  place  of  great  influence  and  power 
at  that  time.  The  revival  spirit  spread  over  the  whole 
land.  It  aroused  Christians  to  a  new  sense  of  duty. 
It  made  them  inquire  for  new  agencies  for  spreading 
the  gospel,  and  it  was  speedily  perceived  that  in  no 
way  could  the  young  men  of  the  country  be  so  effect- 
ually reached,  helped  and  saved  as  by  the  associated 
labors  of  Christian  men. 

"Within  the  last  twenty  years  this  agency  of  Chris- 
tian work  has  spread  and  grown  into  almost  univer- 
sal popular  favor,  the  very  exponent  of  Christian 
zeal  and  evangelical  Christian  catholicity. 

Some  of  the  good  results  already  reached,  which  also 
guarantee  still  greater  good  yet  to  come,  may  be  enu- 
merated as  follows: 

1.  It  has  developed  and  embodied  the  lay  activity 
of  the  Church  in  all  Christian  work,  as  it  never  had 


224:  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING, 

been  done  before.  It  has  demonstrated  the  entire  har- 
mony between  the  clerical  and  lay  agencies  of  the 
Church  to  a  degree  which  had  never  been  seen  in  for- 
mer days.  It  has  assigned  to  the  member  ship  of  the 
Church,  and  especially  to  its  active  younger  men,  a 
field,  a  mission,  and  a  work  which  hitherto  had  not 
been  realized.  And  it  has  brought  all  that  powerful 
assistance  and  encouragement  to  the  help  of  the  reg- 
ular established  ministry,  to  an  extent  which  the  min- 
isters of  former  generations  had  not  dreamed  of. 

2.  It  has  practically  united  all  evangelical  Churches 
in  one  grand  brotherhood  for  doing  good,  and  has 
given  to  the  world  a  living  demonstration  of  true 
Christian  Catholicism.  It  has  given  the  argument  of 
actual  fact  and  example,  how  evangelical  Christians  of 
all  Protestant  Churches  are  one  in  spirit,  one  in  char- 
acter, one  in  work,  however  separated  by  external  or- 
ganization. 

3.  Under  the  influence  of  Christian  zeal  and  philan- 
thropy, it  has  illustrated  the  maxim — aut  inveniam 
a\it  facia m  viam — by  actually  setting  to  work  and 
solving  the  problem  how  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the 
poor,  how  to  reach  and  save  the  outlying  masses  in  our 
towns  and  cities.  It  has  organized  itself  into  a  saving 
society.  In  Christ's  name,  by  his  Spirit  and  power, 
and  with  God's  blessing,  it  has  succeeded  in  carrying 
the  gospel  of  salvation  to  the  perishing.  It  has  res- 
cued hundreds  and  thousands  of  young  men  and  sin- 
ners of  all  other  classes,  who  had  resisted  all  the  ordi- 
nary means  of  grace,  and  who,  without  its  agency, 
would  have  gone  to  destruction. 

It  has  infused  its  fresh  young  life  into  the  whole 


MOODY   IN   GREAT   BRITAIN.  225 

body  of  the  Church  and  into  the  whole  band  of  its 
ministry  and  office-bearers.  Full  of  zeal  and  energy 
itself,  it  has  been  the  means  of  stimulating  all  others 
to  a  fuller  consecration  to  Christ  and  a  more  earnest, 
energetic  service  in  the  work  of  doing  good.  It  has 
given  directness  to  all  agencies.  Men  preach  better, 
pray  better  and  work  better  by  reason  of  its  influ- 
ence. 

This  it  has  already  done.  We  will  not  even  try  to 
forecast  the  share  it  will  have  in  the  religious  move- 
ments of  the  future.  It  can,  however,  no  longer  be 
doubted  that  it  will  be  in  the  very  vanguard  of  the 
army  of  Christian  conquest.  Let  us,  however,  recall 
its  feeble  beginnings,  and  thank  God  that  men  like 
Dudley  Tyng,  Thane  Miller,  and  D.  L.  Moody  set 
upon  it  such  a  seal  of  whole-souled  devotion  to  Christ, 
that  it  has  outgrown  the  criticism  that  once  surrounded 
it,  has  enlisted  in  its  service  the  men  who  once 
doubted  it,  and  has  infused  new  blood  into  the  whole 
Church  of  God. 

D.  L.  Moody  is  the  gift  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  to  the  Church.  Let  us  follow  a  little 
farther  the  training  he  received  in  that  school.  At 
this  time  Mr.  Moody  felt  himself  called  upon  to  de- 
vote all  his  time  to  gospel  work.  He  gave  up  his 
business  and  cast  himself  on  God.  In  one  of  his  ser- 
mons, referring  to  this  time,  and  to  his  experience  in 
learning  to  preach,  he  relates  the  following  personal 
incident : 

"  For  a  long  time  I  used  to  be  the  laughing-stock 
of  this  community,  because  I  used  to  stop  people  on 
the  street  and  elsewhere  and  talk  to  thean  abomt  their 


226  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

souk;  but  that  was  the  school  in  which  I  learned  to 
preach  the  gospel.  It  was  my  rule  to  speak  to  some 
one  every  day.  One  night,  as  I  was  going  home, 
when  I  got  as  far  as  the  corner  of  Clark  and  Lake 
streets,  I  remembered  that  I  hadn't  spoken  to  any  un- 
converted man  that  day  about  his  soul.  But  just  then 
I  happened  to  6ee  a  man  leaning  up  against  the  lamp- 
post, so  I  went  up  and  put  my  hand  on  his  shoulder 
and  asked  him  if  he  loved  the  Lord.  He  was  very  an- 
gry;  turned  round  and  cursed  me,  and  afterward  went 
to  a  friend  of  mine  and  said:  '  If  you  have  any  influ- 
ence with  that  man  Moody,  I  wish  you  would  tell  him. 
to  stop  his  impudence.  He  is  doing  more  harm  than 
any  ten  men  in  Chicago.'  My  friend  came  and  tried 
to  persuade  me  that  I  was  doing  mischief  by  speaking 
to  strangers  that  way;  but  I  replied  that  God  hadn't 
shown  it  to  me  in  that  light,  and  until  he  did  I  should 
keep  right  on  as  before. 

"  Well,  a  little  while  after  that,  when  I  used  to  live 
up  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  rooms, 
and  was  janitor  and  sexton  and  secretary  and  what 
not,  very  early  one  morning  I  heard  a  rap  at  my  door, 
and,  as  soon  as  I  could  dress  me,  I  opened  it,  and  there 
stood  a  man  who  was  a  perfect  stranger. 

'"Don't  you  know  me?'  he  asked;  ' I  am  the  man 
that  cursed  you  for  asking  him  about  his  soul  down 
there  at  the  corner  of  Clark  and  Lake  streets.  I 
haven't  had  a  minute's  peace  since,  and  now  I  am 
come  to  ask  you  to  pray  for  me.'  " 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  in  1861,  a  new  turn 
was  given  to  his  labors.  His  first  work  among  the 
soldiers  was  at  Camp  Douglas,  in   South   Chicago. 


MOODY   IN   GREAT    BRITAIN'.  227 

Night  after  night  he  might  be  seen  going  from  tent 
to  tent,  striving  to  bring  the  soldiers  under  the  influ- 
ence of  divine  grace.  When  the  Christian  Commis- 
sion was  organized  he  became  President  of  the  Chi- 
cago branch,  and  pushed  it  at  once  to  a  most  wonder- 
ful degree  of  efficiency.  Through  his  labors  the  noon- 
day prayer  meeting  in  Chicago  and  the  armies  on  the 
field  and  Christian  homes  throughout  all  the  West 
were  brought  into  close  and  sympathetic  relations. 
From  the  towns  and  prairies  of  the  West,  requests  for 
prayer  for  fathers,  sons  and  brothers  in  the  army  were 
sent  to  the  noon  meetings.  Mr.  Moody  and  his  co- 
laborers  helped  to  answer  those  prayers.  Again  and 
again  they  went  to  the  front,  held  meetings  with  the 
soldiers  in  camp,  went  from  cot  to  cot  in  the  hospital, 
and  from  man  to  man  among  the  wounded  on  the  field 
of  battle,  preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Many  were 
the  answers  to  prayer  mentioned  in  the  Chicago  meet- 
ings, and  sent  abroad  throughout  the  country,  answers 
secured  by  the  faith  of  the  praying  ones  in  that  hall 
and  by  the  personal  work  of  the  agents  they  had  sent 
to  the  field.  A  careful  examination  of  Mr.  Moody's 
work  in  connection  with  the  Christian  Commission 
during  the  war  would  disclose  the  fact  that  it  was  an 
important  element  in  his  Christian  education,  and 
largely  helped  to  fit  him  for  the  work  he  was  to  do. 
It  gave  him  a  knowledge  of  men  he  could  hardly  have 
obtained  in  any  other  way,  and  taught  him  many  ave- 
nues to  the  heart  without  which  he  could  hardly  be 
the  evangelist  he  is.  It  taught  him  faith  in  prayer. 
So  often  had  he  carried  messages  from  Christian 
homes  and  prayer  meetings  to  the  soldiers,  with  know! 


22S  TIMES  OF    REFRESHING. 

edge  that  prayer  accompanied  the  message;  so  often 
had  he  seen  the  result  in  the  conversion  of  those  thus 
prayed  for,  that  he  came  to  have  an  unwavering  faith 
in  the  words  of  God:  "Ask  and  it  shall  be  given 
you."  He  also  learned  how  to  organize  revival  cam- 
paigns. In  the  very  midst  of  battle  memories,  and 
almost  amidst  battle  scenes,  he  witnessed  many  revi- 
vals of  religion.  No  other  war  ever  had  its  horrors 
so  surrounded  by  the  light  that  comes  from  above,  and 
the  praise  of  it,  under  God,  is  due  to  the  Christian 
Commission. 

After  the  war  Mr.  Moody's  work,  in  connection  with 
his  own  mission  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation, continually  increased  on  his  hands.  In  1867 
the  first  building  ever  erected  for  any  association  in 
America  was  built  in  Chicago  through  the  untiring 
efforts  of  Mr.  Moody.  A  few  weeks  after  its  dedica- 
tion it  was  burned  to  the  ground,  and  while  the 
ruins  were  still  smoking  he  began  to  raise  money 
for  the  second  building,  in  which  he  was  so  successful 
that  it  is  said  the  necessary  funds  were  all  subscribed 
by  the  time  the  fire  had  completed  the  destruction  of 
the  first.  The  new  building  contained  a  hall  of  enor- 
mous size,  in  which  Mr.  Moody  preached  every  Sun- 
day evening,  his  mornings  and  afternoons  being  given 
to  North  Market  Mission.  In  the  past  few  years  Mr. 
Moody  has  been  wonderfully  successful  in  raising 
money  for  building  enterprises  of  association  work, 
having  secured,  for  this  purpose  alone,  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars,  in  London,  New  York, 
Philadelphia  and  Chicago.  He  has,  in  addition  to 
this,  been  instrumental  in  securing  large  sums   fui- 


MOODY   IN   GREAT    BRITAIN.  229 

other  departments  of  Christian  activity.  He  is  an 
eminently  successful  beggar.  His  training  for  it  he 
received  in  the  dark  days  of  his  mission  enterprise  in 
Chicago. 

Shortly  before  the  Great  Fire,  at  an  international 
convention  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
at  Indianapolis,  Mr.  Moody  was  attracted  by  the  sound 
of  a  voice  of  remarkable  sweetness  and  power.  At 
the  close  of  the  service  he  approached  the  owner  of 
the  voice  with  the  question:  "  Where  do  you  live?" 
Mr.  Sankey  replied:  "In  Newcastle,  Pa."  Mr. 
Moody,  in  his  quick,  decided  way,  continued:  "You 
must  come  to  Chicago  and  help  me."  Arrangements 
were  soon  completed,  and  in  a  few  weeks  the  preacher 
and  singer  had  formed  that  partnership  in  the  service 
of  Christ  that  marks  a  new  era  in  gospel  services.  Of 
the  influence  of  song  in  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel 
we  shall  speak  in  another  place.  It  is  sufficient  here 
to  say  that  the  harmony  in  their  ideas,  singleness  of 
purpose  and  unselfish  devotion  to  the  salvation  of 
souls  make  them  par  nohile  fratrum,  fitted  to  each 
other  and  to  the  work  in  which  they  are  engaged. 

Passing  over  the  great  fire  and  the  incidents  con- 
nected with  it,  and  bearing  upon  Mr.  Moody's  work,  we 
come  to  speak  briefly  of  the  work  of  these  two  evangelists 
in  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Moody  had  been  in  England 
twice  before.  His  acquaintance  there,  however,  was 
very  limited.  A  few  active  Christian  men  had  per- 
ceived the  power  that  was  in  him,  and  had  been  urg- 
ing him  to  come  to  that  country  for  evangelistic  work. 
Kev.  Mr.  Pennefather,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  in 
London,  and  Mr.  Cuthbert  Bainbridge,  a  Wesleyan 


230  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

layman,  of  Newcastle,  invited  the  Chicago  evangelist 
to  labor  with  them  in  the  gospel.  On  June  7,  1872, 
Mr.  Moody  and  his  family  and  Mr.  Sankey  set  sail 
for  Liverpool.  On  arriving  in  that  city  the  first  tid- 
ings that  they  heard  were  that  both  the  men  who  had 
invited  them,  and  on  whose  introduction  and  co-oper- 
ation they  had  depended,  were  dead.  They  began 
meetings,  however,  in  York  and  Sunderland,  but  with 
only  indifferent  success.  Mr.  Moody  relates  that  at 
the  first  meeting  there  were  only  eight  present. 
The  day  of  small  things  surely,  but  he  had  set 
his  face  and  fixed  his  heart.  Before  he  left  Chicago  a 
friend  inquired:  "  What  are  you  going  to  Europe 
for?"  The  answer  came  like  a  bullet:  "Ten  thou- 
sand souls  for  Christ."  He  kept  this  star  before  him. 
The  evangelists  were  next  invited  to  Newcastle,  and 
there,  their  success  began.  The  Holy  Ghost  was 
y>oured  out  upon  their  meetings.  The  country  was 
leavened  for  a  radius  of  twenty  miles  around  the  town. 
Invitations  poured  in  upon  them  from  every  quarter. 
They  next  went  to  Edinburgh,  steady-going,  clas^u- 
Edinburgh.  One  would  think  it  the  most  difficult 
field  the  evangelists  could  enter.  The  well-indoctrin- 
ated congregations  would  look  with  distrust  on  the 
new  methods  of  Moody,  and  Sankey's  "  kist  o' 
whistles."  But  devout  ones  in  Edinburgh  had  long 
been  praying  for  a  revival  of  religion.  They  were 
tired  of  the  respectable  formalities  and  the  long  dead- 
ness  of  their  churches,  and  were  willing  to  accept  help 
from  any  quarter.  From  the  very  first,  the  Free 
Church  of  Assembly  Hall  was  crowded  at  every  meet- 
ing.    From  the  first  the  ministers  of  the  city  gathered 


MOODY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  231 

solidly  around  the  evangelists.  Churches  were  open 
and  thronged  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  the  number 
of  converts  rapidly  increased. 

An  idea  of  the  progress  and  extent  of  the 
work  can  perhaps  best  be  given  in  pictures  taken 
from  letters,  written  from  Edinburgh  during  the 
revival.  Thus  a  close  observer  writes:  "The 
fourth  week  of  the  special  meetings  began  in  St. 
Stephen's  Church,  Dec.  16,  1873.  Admission  was 
by  ticket,  and  as  the  church  was  crowded  in 
every  part,  there  must  have  been  2,000  people  pres- 
ent at  each  meeting.  St.  Stephen's  congregation  is 
composed  almost  entirely  of  the  upper  classes,  many 
of  whom  attended  and  were  deeply  impressed  by  the 
preaching  and  singing  of  the  American  brethren. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Nicholson  presided,  and  every  evening 
there  were  around  the  pulpit  ministers  of  different 
denominations,  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  while 
among  the  audience  there  were  members  of  the  nobil- 
ity, professors  from  the  university,  and  distinguished 
lawyers  from  the  Parliament  House;  many  came  to 
criticise  and  seek  grounds  of  opposition,  who  went 
away  to  approve  and  to  pray.  The  large  church  gave 
full  scope  to  Mr.  Sankey,  and  the  singing  of  his  beau- 
tiful and  truth-imparting  solos  was  most  impressive, 
while  Mr.  Moody's  direct  and  faithful  preaching  held 
the  most  intense  attention.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  among  those  who  went  away  there  were  many 
wounded  and  many  healed,  but  each  night  a  number 
stayed  to  hear  more  of  Jesus  in  the  inquiry  meeting. 
These  after-meetings  increased  in  number  and  inter- 
est night  alter  night,  and  not  a  few  of  all  classes  gave 


232  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

evidence  of  their  closing  with  Christ.  Only  those 
present  can  fully  appreciate  the  solemnity  and  still- 
ness that  pervaded  these  meetings.  "  God's  Spirit 
was  moving  on  the  hearts  of  the  people."  The  power 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  was  felt  at  all  these  meetings, 
giving  life  to  the  dead  and  revival  to  the  living,  both 
of  the  rich  and  poor. 

"At  half- past  eight  on  Friday  evening  a  meeting 
was  held  for  young  men,  in  the  Free  Assembly 
Hall.  Admission  was  by  ticket  and  2,000  young 
men  thronged  the  hall.  A  prayer  meeting  was 
held  at  the  same  hour  to  implore  a  blessing  on 
the  effort  being  made  for  the  young  men,  at  which 
there  was  upwards  of  300.  In  addressing  the  young 
men  Mr.  Moody  spoke  of  the  "  New  Birth,"  and  at 
the  close  a  great  number  remained  for  conversation. 
Artisans,  clerks,  young  men  from  the  stores,  soldiers, 
sailors  and  young  men  from  the  schools,  were  all  rep- 
resented. Some  of  them  were  prodigals  wearied 
with  the  far  country  and  the  swine-troughs  of  sin; 
some  had  tried  infidelity,  and  found  it  nothing  but 
bitterness  and  woe;  some  had  known  the  truth  in 
word,  and  now  wanted  to  know  it  in  its  saving  power; 
while  all  were  greatly  in  earnest  in  asking,  u  What 
shall  I  do  to  be  saved?"  The  Free  Assembly  on  Sun- 
day morning  was  crowded  with  Sunday-school  teach- 
ers, and  every  one  felt  that  their  work  among  the 
young  called  for  absolute  consecration,  and  a  high 
level  of  Christian  life.  In  the  evening  the  same 
building  was  crowded  with  students,  and  their  pro- 
fessors, and  many  had  to  go  away  for  want  of  room. 
They  listened  to  Mr.  Moody  with  marked  attention, 


MOODY   IN   OfiEAT   BRITAIN.  233 

and  towards  the  close  the  meeting  was  most  deeply 
solemn.  The  daily  prayer-meeting,  at  noon,  has  been 
greatly  blessed  on  all  days  of  the  week  and  in  all 
states  of  the  weather.  The  Assembly  Hall  is  crowd- 
ed. No  report  can  convey  a  true  conception  of  what 
is  being  done.  One  must  see  for  himself  the  won- 
ders that  God  is  working  among  us  in  these  pressing 
days." 

Professor  Blaikie  says:  "At  one  of  the  daily 
prayer-meetings  a  well-known  and  conspicuous  citizen, 
bearing  a  name  honored  in  the  history  of  evangelism, 
asked  the  meeting  to  give  thanks  with  him  on  behalf 
of  one  of  his  sons  brought  under  the  power  of  the 
truth — one  for  whom  many  prayers  had  been  offered, 
but  about  whom  his  family  had  begun  to  despair. 
The  emotion  of  the  father  was  very  powerful,  and 
the  vast  assemblage,  while  joining  in  his  thanksgiving, 
acquired  fresh  hope  and  confidence  for  similar  cases 
not  yet  disposed  of.  An  esteemed  and  goodly  minis- 
ter from  a  country  town,  rose  up  and  bore  his  testi- 
mony to  the  good  the  meetings  had  done  to  himself.  He 
had  fallen,  he  said,  into  a  state  of  depression,  had  been 
discouraged  at  the  apparent  want  of  success  in  his 
work,  and  with  a  view  of  recruiting  his  strength,  had 
left  home  for  a  little,  intending  to  go  South  for  change 
and  refreshment.  In  passing  through  Edinburgh  he 
had  come  to  these  meetings,  and  a  new  light  had 
burst  on  his  soul.  He  had  seen  the  glorious  sufficien- 
cy of  the  Savior  to  bear  all  his  burdens  and  supply 
all  his  need.  He  had  rolled  all  his  cares  over  on  Him, 
and  had  got  such  an  impression  of  His  grace  and  love 
that  his  heart  was  quite  lifted  up;  he  needed  no  fur- 


234  TTMES  OP   EEPRE8HINO. 

ther  recruiting,  but  was  eager  to  be  back  to  his  work. 
The  quiet,  solemn  joy  of  the  speaker  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  meeting,  and  seemed  to  open  a  fresh 
view  of  the  grace  that  is  free  to  all." 

"Among  the  most  direct  and  touching  fruits  of  saving 
impression  in  the  case  of  anyone,  affectionate  interestin 
the  welfare  of  other  members  of  the  family  is  one  of  the 
surest  and  most  uniform.  A  working  man  of  fifty  years 
of  age,  for  example,  is  impressed  and  brought  to  peace 
in  believing,  and  immediately  he  comes  to  the  minister 
and  cries,  with  streaming  eyes,  '  Oh,  pray  for  my  two 
sons.1  A  father  and  his  son  are  seen  at  another 
meeting  with  arms  around  each  other's  neck.  In 
many  cases  the  work  of  conversion  seems  to  go  through 
whole  families.  That  peculiar  joy  fulness  and  ex- 
pectation which  marks  young  converts  is  often  the 
means  of  leading  to  the  fountain,  and  two,  three,  four 
and  even  more  members  of  the  family  share  the  bless- 
ing. There  have  been  some  very  remarkable  conver- 
sions of  sceptics.  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson  told  of  one 
who,  having  been  awakened  on  the  previous  week, 
had  gone  for  the  first  time  to  church  on  the  Sabbath. 
He  had  hardly  been  in  a  place  of  worship  for  years, 
and  a  week  before  he  would  have  scouted  the  idea. 
He  was  so  happy  in  the  forenoon  that  he  returned  in 
the  afternoon.  The  blessing  seemed  to  come  down 
upon  him.  We  heard  of  another  who  carried  his  un- 
belief to  the  verge  of  blasphemy,  and  who  had  now 
come  to  the  foot  of  the  cross.  The  number  interested 
is  quite  too  large  to  be  specified.  It  is  almost  amus- 
ing to  observe  how  entirely  the  latent  distrust  of  Mr. 
Sankey'g     kist  o'  whistles     has  disappeared.     There 


MOODY   IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  285 

are  different  ways  of  using  the  organ.  There  are  or- 
gans for  display  in  some  churches,  as  some  one  has  said, 
4  with  a  devil  in  every  pipe,'  but  a  small  harmonium, 
designed  to  keep  the  tune  right,  is  a  different  matter, 
and  is  seen  to  be  no  hindrance  to  the  devout  and  spir- 
itual worship  of  God." 

Concerning  this  wonderful  movement,  Dr.  Bonar 
says:  " The  movement  carries  on  its  face  an  intens- 
ity of  earnestness  which  leaves  one  in  no  doubt  as  to 
the  single-heartedness  of  the  workers.  With  them 
Christianity  is  not  a  creed  merely,  but  a  living  en- 
ergy which  ought  to  carry  everything  before  it.  This 
much  must  be  said  at  the  outset,  in  the  way  of  dis- 
arming hostility.  Let  us  not,  however,  look  at  the 
work  from  without,  but  from  within.  Let  us  throw 
ourselves  into  it,  and  then  form  our  judgment.  I 
think  that  in  so  doing  right-minded  men  will  not 
merely  withdraw  opposition,  but  feel  constrained 
to  sympathize  and  approve."  Again,  Dr.  Bonar 
says:  "  This  is  the  day  of  earnest  men  and  earnest 
things.  Let  no  man  forbid  the  Christian  worker  to 
be  in  earnest;  he  surely  is  not  the  one  man  who,  amid 
all  the  fervor  of  modern  zeal,  is  to  remain  cold,  and 
repressed  in  his  loving  ardor,  because  his  wavs  of 
working  are  not  exactly  according  to  established  rule 
and  line.  We  ask  for  self-denying,  hard-toiling  men, 
who  are  spending  and  being  spent  in  a  service  which 
they  believe  to  be  not  human,  but  divine.  We  ask 
.for  definite  aims,  and  an  ultimatum  in  which  self 
shall  have  no  place,  and  we  do  well.  These  men 
have  the  most  definite  of  all  definite  aims,  winning 
souls  to  everlasting  joys;  and  they  look  for  no  fame 


236  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

and  no  reward,  save  the  Master's  approval  and  the 
recompense  of  those  who  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness. They  have  in  view  no  sinister,  no  selfish,  no 
sordid  motives,  as  their  past  history  shows,  and  as 
everyone  who  associates  with  them  must  feel." 

The  evangelist  remained  two  months  in  Edinburgh. 
The  result  may  thus  be  summarized.  The  Gospel 
was  proclaimed  to  the  masses  of  Edinburgh  as,  per- 
haps, never  before.  Bible  lectures,  given  in  halls  and 
churches,  brought  multitudes  from  bondage  into  the 
liberty  of  the  truth.  The  Bible  was  given  its  due 
place  of  prominence,  and  caused  to  be  regarded,  not 
only  as  the  most  important,  but  as  the  most  interest- 
ing book  in  the  world,  aud  about  three  thousand  souls 
were  hopefully  converted  to  Christ.  The  whole  city 
was  moved,  and  so  extensive  was  the  blessing  that 
Dr.  Horatius  Bonar  said:  "  Almost  every  Christian 
household  had  been  blessed  with  one  or  more  conver- 
sions." The  influence  of  the  meetings  was  not  con- 
fined to  Edinburgh,  but  seemed  to  extend  throughout 
Scotland. 

The  evangelists  were  now  eagerly  sought  for  by 
many  towns  and  cities,  but  they  determined  on  the 
great  manufacturing  city  of  Glasgow  as  their  next 
field  of  labor.  Meetings  were  commenced  there  Feb. 
8,  1874.  The  very  first  gathering,  of  three  thousand 
Sunday  school  teachers,  seemed  to  assure  the  success 
of  the  work.  It  is  not  in  the  line  of  our  purpose  to 
follow  particularly  the  extraordinary  course  of  the 
meetings,  nor  to  dwell  in  detail  upon  their  effect. 
Although  the  two  cities  are  so  wholly  unlike,  the  same 
general  characteristics  which  marked  the  revival  in 


MOODY  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  237 

Edinburgh  stamped  it  also  in  Glasgow.  There  was 
the  same  unanimity  of  the  co-operation  among  the 
ministers,  the  same  crowds  in  attendance  upon  the 
preaching  ot  the  word,  Bible  readings  and  prayer 
meetings,  the  same  impressive  scenes  in  the  inquiry 
rooms,  the  same  pathos  and  power  in  Mr.  Sankey's 
singing,  and  the  same  ringing  Gospel  that  was 
preached  to  the  cultured  and  aristocratic  audiences  of 
Edinburgh,  was  sent  with  overwhelming  effect  to  the 
very  heart  of  Glasgow.  From  the  accounts  that  have 
been  given,  we  notice  the  same  marks  of  a  subtle  and 
divine  power  in  carrying  on  the  revival  far  beyond 
the  preacher's  or  singer's  voice.  It  is  of  this  time 
that  Dr.  Andrew  A.  Bonar  writes: 

"  Souls  are  coming  from  great  distances  to  ask  the 
way  of  life  at  the  lips  of  those  who  can  tell  it,  and 
these  souls,  awakened  to  this  concern  by  no  direct 
means,  but  evidently  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is 
breathing  over  the  land.  It  is  such  a  time  as  we 
never  had  in  Scotland  before.  The  same  old  Gospel 
is  preached  to  all  men  as  aforetime;  Christ,  who  was 
made  sin  for  us,  Christ,  the  Substitute,  Christ's  blood, 
Christ's  righteousness,  Christ  crucified,  the  power  of 
God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation;  but  now 
the  Gospel  is  preached  B  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent 
down  from  heaven.'  And  amid  all  this  the  enemy  is 
restrained,  so  that  we  are  solemnly  reminded  of  Rev. 
vii.  1-3,  the  time  before  the  coming  of  the  Lord, 
when  the  four  angels  are  charged  to  let  no  storm 
burst,  not  to  allow  the  wind  even  to  ruffle  the  sea's 
smooth  surface,  or  move  a  leaf  of  any  tree,  till  the 
seal  of  the  living  God  has  been  put  on  His  elect.     Is 


238  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

not  this  sealing  going  on  daily  among  us?  Are  not 
the  four  angels  looking  on?  Surely  it  is  time  to  seek 
the  Lord,  that  He  may  rain  righteousness  upon   us." 

We  have  alluded  to  an  intense  personalism  as  mark- 
ing all  of  Mr.  Moody's  labors.  He  does  not  deal 
with  audiences,  but  with  souls.  His  success  in  thus 
individualizing  his  work  is,  perhaps,  nowhere  more 
apparent  than  in  Glasgow.  He  impressed  the  duty  of 
personal  endeavor  for  saving  souls  upon  those 
immense  throngs  to  such  an  extent  that  when  the 
great  public  meetings  had  closed,  thousands  of  peo- 
ple, men,  women  and  children,  might  be  seen  going 
about  through  churches,  halls,  streets  and  parks, 
"  seeking  that  which  was  lost."  This  kind  of  work 
was,  perhaps,  newer  in  Scotland  than  in  our  own 
country,  but  Mr.  Moody's  enthusiasm  in  it  inspired 
the  people  with  a  delight  in  it  which,  when  the  heart 
was  aroused,"  was  all  the  keener  because  of  its  novelty. 
As  some  one  has  said,  he  attacked  them  on  the  weak 
side.  The  scenes  described  in  the  following  words, 
so  new  in  Glasgow  and  so  inspiring,  attest  beyond  a 
question  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost: 

"  So  great  was  the  activity  of  Christians  that  they 
could  not  content  themselves  with  ordinary  church 
work,  but  in  the  long  evenings,  when  daylight  lingers 
in  this  high  latitude,  in  the  open  squares,  on  the 
bridges,  or  at  the  corners  of  the  streets,  alone  or  in 
little  companies,  devoted  Christian  men  and  women 
might  be  seen  engaged  in  prayer,  or  making  brief 
addresses  to  groups  of  listeners,  or  leading  the  com- 
pany in  singing  some  of  the  favorite  Gospel  hymns." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  effect  of  this  evangel- 


MOODY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  230 

istic  work  on  the  mind  of  Scotland,  and  the  explana- 
tions it  finds  for  the  wonderful  success  of  the  revival- 
ists. They  speak  with  wonder  of  the  spirit  of 
Christian  union  that  from  the  very  beginning  distin- 
guished the  revival.  Walls  of  division,  that  had  been 
ao-es  in  building,  fell  flat  as  Jericho.  Other  revivals 
had  begun  and  ended  in  particular  churches  or  de- 
nominations, but  this  one  alone  was  indorsed  by 
something  like  the  catholic  consent  of  all  the  churches. 

The  character  of  Mr.  Moody's  preaching  received 
from  Scotland,  perhaps,  the  highest,  because  at  once 
the  most  intelligent  and  conservative  indorsement  it 
has  ever  had.  Writes  a  competent  critic,  in  review 
of  the  work:  "  Though  he  has  introduced  some  novel 
methods,  he  has  stuck  to  the  old  truths,  and  his  con- 
victions are  in  perfect  accord  with  Scottish  ortho- 
doxy." Scotland  is  the  place  also  that  would  im- 
mensely enjoy  Mr.  Moody's  mental  traits.  A.  general 
impression  to  the  contrary,  a  Scotchman  enjoys  hu- 
mor, and  Mr.  Moody's  flashes  of  wit  would  not  be 
without  appreciation.  His  brusque  and  business-like 
manner,  his  vivid  picturing  of  Bible  facts  and  scenes, 
his  downright  earnestness,  and  especially  his  manly 
courage,  were  elements  that  drew  the  Scottish  mind 
by  an  almost  irresistible  fascination.  Mr.  Sankey's 
singing  stormed  the  stronghold  of  Scottish  prejudices 
by  its  very  earliest  notes.  The  same  critical  review  of 
the  Glasgow  work  from  which  we  have  already  quoted 
gives  the  effect  of  Gospel  singing  thus : 

"  Music  in  his  hands  is,  more  than  it  has  yet  been, 
the  handmaid  of  the  gospel  and  the  voice  of  the  heart. 
We  have  seen  many  stirred  and  melted  by  his  singing 


240  TIMES   OV   REFRESHING. 

oefore  a  word  had  been  spoken.  Indeed,  his  singing 
is  just  a  powerful,  distinct,  and  heart-toned  way  of 
speaking,  that  seems  often  to  reach  the  heart  by  a 
short  cut  when  mere  speaking  might  lose  the  road." 

We  have  dwelt  with  some  particularity  on  the  ef- 
fects of  the  meetings  of  the  evangelists  on  the  intel- 
lectual and  commercial  centers  of  Scotland.  We  have 
done  so  because  the  work  in  those  two  cities  may  be 
considered  representative  of  all  the  work  in  Britain. 
In  the  cities  to  which  they  afterward  went  there  were 
the  same  difficulties  to  encounter,  the  same  criticisms 
were  made,  the  same  popular  sympathy  and  interest 
aroused,  the  same  methods  adopted,  and  followed  by 
the  same  results.  The  rest  of  the  campaign  abroad, 
therefore,  we  may  pass  over  in  more  rapid  mention. 

Belfast  followed  GlasgoAV.  The  motto  that  marked 
the  great  meetings  there  was  this:  "  We  want  Ireland 
for  Christ."  Five  weeks  were  given  to  that  city,  and 
tor  the  farewell  meeting  for  young  converts,  two 
thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  tickets  were  given 
out.  Since  Pentecost  not  many  such  harvests  have 
been  gathered  in  so  short  a  time.  Two  weeks  after 
that  farewell  meeting,  the  Exhibition  Palace  of  Dub- 
lin was  crowded  with  ten  thousand  people  to  welcome 
the  evangelists.  An  Episcopal  minister,  accounting 
for  the  immense  crowds,  asking  what  is  the  mighty 
power  which  draws  together  these  vast  crowds  and 
holds  them  spell-bound,  gives  answer  thus: 

"  It  is  the  simple  lifting  up   of  the  cross  of  Christ 

-the  holding  forth  the  Lord  Jesus  before  the  eyes  of 

the  people  in  all  the  glory  of  His  Godhead,  in  all  the 

simplicity  of  His   manhood,  in  all    the  perfection  of 


MOODY    IN    GREAT   BRITAIN.  241 

His  nature,  for  their  admiration,  for  their  adoration, 
arid  for  their  acceptance." 

Here,  too,  as  elsewhere,  Mr.  Moody's  use  of  the 
Bible  was  recognized  as  the  hiding  of  his  power.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  put  into  one  sentence  a  better  ex- 
planation of  the  telling  peculiarity  of  Mr.  Moody's 
preaching  than  was  given  by  the  Dublin  minister  who 
said: 

"  He  does  not  wait  for  the  end  of  his  sermon  to 
make  the  application,  but  the  Bible  in  his  hands  is  a 
quiver,  and  every  passage  to  which  he  refers  is  an  ar- 
row, which,  the  Holy  Ghost  accompanying,  he  shoots 
home  straight  to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers." 

The  closing  of  the  Dublin  meetings  was  signalized 
by  a  three-days'  convention,  attended  by  more  than 
eight  hundred  ministers  from  all  parts  of  Ireland. 
This  is  said  to  have  been  the  most  remarkable  gather- 
ins:  ever  held  in  Dublin.  All  denominations  met  on 
a  platform  as  broad  as  the  love  of  Christ. 

"  At  one  point,  during  the  discussion  of  Ireland, 
the  central  subject  of  the  day,  and  when  Mr.  Sankey, 
seizing  the  opportunity  with  his  usual  tact,  sang 
*  Hold  the  Fort'  alone,  and  the  ministers  and  people 
lifted  up  the  chorus  in  a  mighty  shout,  the  enthusi- 
asm was  overpowering  and  altogether  indescribable." 

The  result  of  the  work  in  Dublin  was  a  great  and 
general  awakening  throughout  the  city,  the  bringing 
of  some  three  thousand  converts  to  the  fold  of  Christ, 
and  the  quickening  of  hundreds  of  ministers,  who, 
with  a  fresh  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  went  out  to 
preach  the  Gospel  as  they  had  never  preached  it  be- 
fore.     Manchester,  Sheffield   and   Birmingham   fol- 


242  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

lowed.  In  the  latter  city  especially  the  harvest  was 
very  great,  botli  in  the  awakening  of  the  Church  and 
the  conversion  of  sinners.  In  these  cities  the  follow- 
ing points  seem  most  deeply  to  have  affected  the 
hearts  of  the  people:  the  power  of  the  cross,  the  per- 
sonality of  Jesus  as  a  Savior  and  brother,  brought 
vividly  out  in  all  the  sermons,  the  uncompromising 
test  against  worldly  Christianity,  and  the  rich  adapta- 
tion of  the  Gospel  to  every  class  and  condition  of  men. 
In  Liverpool  the  first  Tabernable  was  erected,  with  a 
seating  capacity  for  eight  thousand  persons,  and  a 
month  was  given  to  that  city  in  preaching,  Bible 
readings,  children's  services  and  organized  house- 
to-house  visitings,  the  results  of  wrhich  eternity 
alone  will  disclose.  On  Tuesday,  March  9,  1874,  the 
two  evangelists,  no  longer  obscure,  but  as  singly  de- 
pending upon  the  help  and  presence  of  Christ  as  when 
they  first  landed  at  Liverpool,  opened  services  in  the 
great  Agricultural  Hall  of  North  London.  Thence 
they  went  to  the  Koyal  Opera  Hall  in  West  End,  then 
to  Bow  Road,  in  East  London,  and  finally  to  Camber- 
well,  in  South  London,  the  latter  building  having 
been  erected  especially  for  their  use.  From  March  to 
July  their  services  were  continued.  These,  in  point 
of  numbers,  possibly,  also,  in  their  fruits,  were  un- 
doubtedly the  most  wonderful  of  all  the  evangelists' 
services,  as  also  the  most  remarkable  religious  meet- 
meetings  ever  held  in  London. 

To  influence  London,  is  to  influence  not  only  Great 
Britain,  but  all  Europe.  Moody's  sermons,  wide-spread 
through  the  London  press,  were  read  in  France,  Germa- 
ny, on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  and  the  Ganges,  and  even 


MOODY   IN   GREAT   BRITAIN.  243 

in  far-off  Australia;  and  "Hold  the  Fort,"  "What 
shall  the  Harvest  be?"  might  be  heard,  not  only  up 
and  down  the  streets  of  the  metropolis,  but  are  sung 
to-day  by  young  converts  in  Africa,  Madagasca,  In- 
dia and  China. 

What  is  the  secret  of  these  astonishing  results? 
is  the  one  question  which  successively  has  agitated 
all  communities  where  the  evangelists  have  been. 
Let  us  get  an  answer  from  one  of  the  most  thorough, 
judicious  and  candid  English  critics,  Rev.  R.  W.  Dale, 
of  Birmingham.  He  says:  "The  truest,  simplest, and 
most  complete  reply  to  the  question,  which  I  can 
give,  is  that  the  power  of  God  was  manifested  in  a 
most  extraordinary  degree  in  connection  with  them, 
but  there  were  concurrent  circumstances  which  de- 
served notice."  These  "  circumstances  "  we  condense 
as  follows: 

1.  The  attention  and  expectation  excited  by  pre- 
liminary prayer-meetings  and  by  the  reports  of  the 
revival  work,  which  were  published  for  many  months, 
and  which  have  impressed  large  numbers  of  people, 
with  the  conviction  that  the  religious  movement  was 
more  remarkable  than  anything  England  had  seen 
since  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 

2.  A  wide-spread  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  among 
Christians,  and  the  hope  that  the  great  revival  wave, 
which,  by  general  testimony,  had  brought  refreshing 
to  so   many  communities,  might  also  have  a  blessing 

for  them. 

3.  An  expectation  excited  by  relatives  and  friends 
in  the  towns  the  American  evangelist  had  previously 
visited,  telling  of  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  them, 


244  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

and  urging  them  to  go  to  the  Moody  and  Sankey 
meetings. 

4.  As  the  work  proceeded,  the  bright  faces  and 
enthusiastic  words  of  young  converts. 

5.  A  general  longing  and  hoping  throughout  the 
evangelical  churches  of  England  for  a  brighter  day. 

6.  A  personal  visitation  from  house  to  house. 

7.  The  attractive  character  of  the  services.  Mr. 
Sankey's  solos  touched  many  hearts,  and  the  effect 
produced  by  the  vast  audiences  uniting  in  such  songs 
as  "  Safe  in  the  Arms  of  Jesus,"  and  "  The  Great 
Physician  now  is  Near,"  was  sometimes  most  thrill- 
ing. Mr.  Moody's  preaching  was  so  unaccountably 
affecting  that  Mr.  Dale  told  Mr.  Moody  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  meetings  that  "the  work  is  most 
plainly  of  God,  for  I  can  see  no  relation  between  you 
and  what  you  have  done."  This  bit  of  frank  criti- 
cism Mr.  Moody  most  heartily  enjoyed,  replying,  he 
should  be  very  sorry  if  it  were  otherwise.  It  was 
not  long,  however,  before  Mr.  Dale  discovered  his 
mistake,  and  perceived  it  Mr.  Moody's  elements  of 
success  were  not  obtrusive,  they  were  none  the  less 
real.  These  elements  he  finds  to  be  his  perfect  na- 
turalness, a  certain  art  of  putting  himself  en  rapport 
with  his  audience  so  as  to  disarm  criticism,  such  de- 
votion to  his  work  that  he  "  keeps  Sunday  every  day 
in  the  week,'1  and  the  tenderness  of  his  presentation 
of  the  infinite  love  and  power  of  Christ. 

We  have  thus  briefly  sketched  some  of  the  aspects 
of  the  great  revival  campaign  of  Great  Britain, 
which  was  undertaken  in  the  daring  hope  of  winning 
ten  thousand  souls  for  Christ,  and  which  resulted  in 


MOODY   IN   GKfcEAT   BRITAIN.  245 

a  vastly  larger  number  of  conversions,  and  in  other 
results,  which  cannot  be  computed  by  any  arithmetic 
of  time.  Our  object  has  been  not  to  follow  in  detail 
the  harvest,  nor  to  measure  it,  but  rather  to  notice  in 
and  through  it,  the  development  of  the  new  revival 
methods,  the  education  of  the  men  who,  so  far  as  hu- 
man agency  is  concerned,  have  been  the  life  and  cen- 
ter of  it  all. 


CHAPTER  XL 

MOODY  AND   SANKEY  IN   BROOKLYN,  PHILADEL- 
PHIA AND  NEW  YORK. 

Ill  July,  1875,  the  evangelists  returned  to  their  own 
country.  In  London  and  Liverpool  immense  fare- 
well meetings  were  held,  abundantly  attesting  the  con- 
fidence and  love  in  which  they  were  held.  There  is 
probably  in  all  history  no  parallel  to  the  victory 
achieved  by  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  over  the  con- 
servatism and  prejudices  of  a  wdiole  nation.  To  enter 
old  England,  fortified  in  the  religious  habits  and  opin- 
ions of  centuries,  to  begin  without  introduction  or 
prestige,  either  social,  literary  or  ecclesiastical,  to 
make  headway  in  new  methods,  by  blunt  speech  and 
fervid  hearts  and  the  power  of  prayer,  to  carry  the 
campaign  from  one  center  of  culture,  wealth  and 
power  to  another,  until  the  standards  of  their  con- 
quest were  firmly  planted  in  Edinburgh,  Glasgow, 
Dublin,  Liverpool  and  London,  to  see  gathered 
around  them  not  only  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
converts,  but  almost  unbroken  ranks  of  the  ministry 
of  all  denominations,  and  the  entire  evangelical 
church  of  three  kingdoms;  this  is  a  triumph  so 
wholly  beyond  our  philosophy  to  fathom  that  it  must 
in  all  ages  be  regarded  as  none  other  than  the  mighty 
power  of  God  unto  salvation.  Indeed,  human  ele- 
ments of  great   compass  and  depth  entered  into  it. 

246 


MOODY    IN    NEW    YORK.  247 

Such  passionate  and  stirring  sermons  had  been  rung 
into  English  ears  as  they  had  not  heard  since  the 
days  of  Whitefield.  Such  singing  had  been  heard  in 
their  assemblies  as  had  never  before  been  sung  there, 
so  that  Earl  Shaftsbury,  at  the  farewell  meeting  in 
Camberwell  Hall,  could  truly  say,  if  the  evangelists 
had  left  them  no  other  heritage  than  that  of  such  songs 
as  "  Hold  the  Fort,"  their  work  had  been  a  wonder- 
ful success.  Yet  back  of  every  explicable  reason  for 
the  great  spiritual  harvests  lay  that  wide,  deep  enig- 
ma, to  solve  which  or  lighten  which  only  the  light 
which  Mis  from  the  throne  can  avail.  The  one  les- 
son impressed  by  the  work  in  Great  Britain  is  this: 
The  supernatural  factor  holds  in  this  revival  precisely 
the  place  it  held  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  It  is  worth 
everything  to  the  religious  thought  of  oivr  times,  to 
the  right  solution  of  religious  problems,  the  right 
measurements  of  religious  movements — to  have  this 
fact  clearly  cut  out  before  the  eyes  of  the  world.  It 
will  give  us  the  key  to  unlock  mysteries  which  have 
been  barred  against  our  science.  It  puts  into  our 
hands  the  central  word  that  will  explain  the  present 
revival  period  in  our  own  country.  This  is  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Spirit.  Signally,  He  honors  those 
who  honor  Him.  Holding  this  fact  constantly  in  mind, 
we  are  ready  to  follow  the  evangelists  in  their  cam- 
paigns in  our  own  country. 

They  began  in  Brooklyn  on  the  24th  of  October, 
1875.  The  Eink  on  Clermont  avenne  was  fitted  up 
for  the  preaching  service.  It  had  a  seating  capacity 
of  about  five  thousand,  and  on  the  opening  morning 
was  thronged  almost  as  soon    as  opened,  multitudes 


248  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

surging  up  and  down  the  streets  unable  to  obtain  ad- 
mittance, and  yet  reluctant  to  leave  the  place.  Mr. 
Moody  took  for  his  text  the  words  that  are  the  key- 
note of  all  his  plans,  "  Let  us  go  up  at  once  and  pos- 
sess it."  Brooklyn  is  accustomed  to  good  preaching. 
Earnestness  and  directness  are  no  new  things  there. 
But  the  swift  stream  of  Mr.  Moody's  resistless,  mag- 
netic eloquence  bore  the  whole  great  audience  with 
him  as  he  exclaimed:  "I  say  to  you  to-day,  there  is 
only  one  obstacle  to  a  revival,  and  that  is  unbelief  in 
the  churches.  Sinners  and  the  devil  cannot  stop  a 
revival.  It  is  only  the  unbelief  of  the  church  that 
can  do  it.  If  we  will  trust  God,  we  need  not  fear  the 
rum-sellers  nor  the  Sabbath-breakers.  It  is  not  we 
who  light,  hut  God  through  us.  You  would  laugh  at 
seven  priests  walking  around  the  walls  of  Jericho, 
blowing  ram's  horns.  If  the  doctors  of  Brooklyn 
were  to  blow  trumpets,  you  would  say  they  should  be 
silver  or  gold.  But  God's  way  is  not  our  way.  I 
would  like  to  speak  through  a  ram's  horn  to  the  forty 
thousand  ministers  of  the  United  States  to-day,  and 
ask  whether  they  are  ready  to  fall  into  line  and  go  up 
and  possess  the  land." — "  We  are  all  ready,"  cried  Mr. 
Stuart  of  Philadelphia.  "  Then,"  continued  Mr. 
Moody  amidst  great  sensation,  ulet  us  go  up  and  pos- 
sess the  land."  With  electric  effect  Mr.  Sankey  rang 
forth  the  tones  of  that  martial  hymn, 

"Only  an  armor  bearer,  proudly  I  stand, 
Waiting  to  follow  at  the  King's  command." 

Thus  was  the  work  auspiciously  begun  in  the  "  City 

of  churches."     From  that  hour  it  went  steadily  for- 


MOODY    IN    NEW    YORK.  249 

ward.  The  prayer-meetings  were  held  in  Dr.  Tal- 
mage's  Tabernacle,  and  many  of  them  gave  sign  of 
the  wonderful  displays  of  divine  grace.  Bible  read- 
ings were  also  given  in  the  afternoons,  which  were 
largely  attended  and  deepened  the  knowledge  of  God's 
word  in  many  Christian  hearts.  Dr.  Cuyler,  in  the 
course  of  the  meetings,  writes  thus:  "God's  people 
keep  in  sweet  unison.  The  press,  secular  as  well  as 
religious,  continues  its  good  behavior.  Many  souls  are 
rejoicing  in  a  new  birth.  One  of  the  grandest  bless- 
ings of  the  week  has  been  Brother  Moody's  three  af- 
ternoon lectures  on  '  Studying  God's  "Word.'  He 
has  made  the  Bible  a  new  book  to  hundreds." 

The  revivalists  closed  their  services  in  Brooklyn  on 
November  19th.  Mr.  Moody  probably  never  worked 
harder  than  during  those  four  weeks  in  that  city.  He 
led  the  morning  meeting  at  the  Tabernacle,  gave  a 
Bible  reading  in  the  afternoon,  preached  at  the  Rink 
in  the  evening,  conversed  with  inquirers  at  the  close 
of  the  service,  and  then  hastened  to  the  Tabernacle 
to  address  a  young  men's  meeting  there,  often  linger- 
ing with  inquirers  there  till  a  late  hour  of  the  night. 
And  yet,  though  the  results  were  by  no  means  in- 
considerable, they  were  not  as  remarkable  as  in  other 
cities.  Many  souls  were  saved,  and  many  churches 
quickened,  and  by  any  ordinary  standard  the  Brook- 
lyn revival  was  a  great  success.  But  the  meetings 
which  preceded  it  in  Britain,  and  those  which  fol- 
lowed in  other  cities  of  our  own  land,  have  been  rel- 
atively more  fruitful.  For  this  there  is  one  chief 
reason.  The  preparations  may  have  been  inadequate, 
the   co-operation  not  sufficiently  hearty,  and   other 


250  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

subsidiary  causes,  may  have  conspired  to  limit  the  in- 
fluence of  the  work;  but  the  one  reason,  that  had 
more  to  do  with  limiting  the  results  than  all  others, 
was  the  shortness  of  the  time.  It  is  impossible  to 
organize  and  move  so  large  a  column  to  any  great 
victory  in  three  or  four  weeks.  The  machinery  was 
just  beginning  to  be  worked,  the  hearts  were  just  be- 
ginning to  beat  in  unison,  the  laggard  lines  were  just 
beginning  to  come  to  the  front,  when  the  rink  was 
closed  and  the  evangelists  had  departed.  This  lesson 
of  the  necessity  of  time  as  an  important  element  in 
evangelistic  labors,  has  been  so  impressed  on  Mr. 
Moody's  mind  that  now  he  refuses  engagements  for  very 
short  time.  Indeed,  he  will  no  longer  limit  himself  by 
making  positive  plans  for  any  services  beyond  those 
he  is  holding.  lie  waits  the  order  of  Providence. 
His  experience  teaches  him  with  constantly  increas- 
ing emphasis  that  the  best  results  are  attained  when 
time  is  given  to  the  preparation,  time  for  thorough- 
ness of  the  work  when  it  is  once  begun,  and  time  to 
glean  the  harvest-field  after  the  great  harvest  in-gath- 
ering. 

Among  the  numerous  touching  incidents  connected 
with  the  Brooklyn  work,  we  copy  the  following: 

When  the  revival  was  at  its  height,  a  very  wealthy, 
cultivated  and  skeptical  lady  from  New  York  went 
over  to  hear  Mr.  Moody  preach.  She  was  amazed 
and  a  little  disgusted  by  his  style  of  oratory.  But 
for  some  reason,  which  probably  she  could  not  have 
defined,  she  went  again;  still  again.  On  her  fourth 
visit  she  passed  into  the  inquiry  room,  and  said  to 
Mr.  Moody  that  she  would  like  to  hear  from  him,  di- 


MOODY   IN   NEW   YORK.  251 

reetly  and  privately,  his  argument  why  she  should 
become  a  Christian.  He  answered  her,  saying: 
"  Madam,  I  know  of  no  surer  way  to  reach  your  heart 
than  through  prayer.  Let  us  pray."  Mr.  Moody 
knelt.  His  manner  was  such  that  the  lady  could  not 
choose,  but  knelt  beside  him.  He  asked  her  to  re- 
peat after  him  his  prayer.  In  low,  earnest  tones,  and 
with  all  the  tender  and  pathetic  phraseology  of  which 
on  occasions  he  is  master,  he  uttered  his  supplication, 
pausing  after  each  sentence  for  his  companion  to  fol- 
low. The  prayer  concluded  with  the  vow, — 
"  And  now,  O  Lord,  I  give  my  life  to  thee!" 
"Mr.  Moody,"  said  the  lady  in  a  hard,  painful 
whisper,  "  I  cannot  say  that:  truly  I  cannot." 

Mr.  Moody  made  no  reply,  nor  did  he  change  his 
position.  There  was  a  pause  of  half  a  minute.  Then 
again  he  uttered  the  words, — 

"  And  now,  O  Lord,  I  give  my  life  to  thee." 
The  lady,  trembling,  did  not  respond.  The  evangel- 
ist paused  for  about  the  same  space  as  before,  motion- 
less. And  now,  wTith  a  voice  still  more  resolute  and 
fervid,  he  repeated  for  the  third  time  the  pledge. 
After  a  momentary  interval  of  silence,  the  new  con- 
vert said, — 

"  And  now,  O  Lord,  I  give  my  life  to  thee." 
Mr.  Moody  rose,  took   his  weeping  charge  by  the 
hand   with  the   wwds,    "  Madam,  I   devoutly  thank 
God,"  and  led  her  quietly  to  the  door.     She  has  ever 
since  been  actively  employed  in  religious  work. 

On  the  corner  of  Thirteenth  and  Market  streets,  in 
Philadelphia,  there  stood  an  old  railroad  depot  which 


252  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

was  no  longer  needed  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  had 
been  built.  John  Wanamaker,  a  large-hearted  Chris- 
tian layman  of  that  city,  had  purchased  it  for  a  house 
for  his  extensive  business.  In  the  Autumn  of  1875, 
he  had  it  fitted  up  as  a  tabernacle  for  the  use  of  the 
evangelists.  It  was  seated  with  ten  thousand  chairs, 
and  was  one  of  the  most  commodious  and  complete  of 
all  the  buildings  prepared  for  the  revivals.  Services 
in  it  were  opened  at  8  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning, 
November  21st.  The  rain  poured  down  in  torrents, 
but  fully  nine  thousand  people  greeted  the  evangelists. 
Mr.  Moody  began  his  address  thus:  "Some  ask 
'  What  is  the  object  of  these  special  meetings?  Are 
there  not  churches  and  ministers  enough  in  Philadel- 
phia?' We  have  come  just  to  help.  In  the  time  of 
the  harvest  extra  help  is  needed,  and  harvest  time  is 
now.  I  have  been  in  the  school  of  Christ  for  twenty 
years,  and  I  have  never  seen  a  better  time  than  the 
present.  We  are  right  in  the  midst  of  the  blessings 
from  heaven."  This  was  the  keynote  of  his  work 
in  Philadelphia.  It  was  his  keynote  everywhere. 
"  Now  is  the  accepted  time,"  was  painted  across  the 
front  of  one  of  the  galleries  in  the  Chicago  Tabernacle. 
It  is  the  motto  of  which  Mr.  Moody  never  loses  sight. 
To  him  it  is  never  four  months  to  the  harvest.  His 
ears  catch  the  sound  of  its  rustlings  always.  To  his 
eyes  its  golden  sheen  reaches  everywhere  to  the 
horizon. 

The  success  of  the  revival  in  Philadelphia  was  as- 
sured from  the  very  first  day.  The  people  attended 
every  service  in  immense  throngs.  The  features  that 
distinguished  the  work  in  other  cities  marked  it  in 


MOODY  IN   NEW   YORK.  253 

this.  His  Bible  readings  were  specially  fruitful. 
Audiences  of  from  three  to  five  thousand  assembled  in 
the  afternoons  to  hear  those  wonderful  expositions  of 
Scripture  truth. 

Thanksgiving  day  was  celebrated  in  the  tabernacle 
by  a  concourse  of  eleven  thousand  people.  Never  be- 
fore in  the  history  of  our  country,  did  so  many  people 
unite  in  one  place  in  singing, 

41  Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 

On  the  19th  of  January,  a  Christian  convention  of 
nearly  a  thousand  ministers  and  thousands  of  laymen, 
assembled  in  the  tabernacle  to  discuss  methods  of 
Christian  work  and  to  have  their  hearts  fired  by  being 
for  a  few  days  in  the  midst  of  the  revival.  These  con- 
ventions have  become  a  regular  part  of  each  series  of 
meetings.  They  spread  the  fire.  To  be  near  one  of 
these  revivals  is  to  become  imbued  with  its  spirit. 
The  effect,  therefore,  of  a  convention  of  ministers  and 
laymen  gathering  for  a  few  days  in  the  glow  of 
such  services  has  uniformly  been  to  extend  the  bless- 
ing. They  go  back  to  their  homes  with  an  impulse, 
a  fervor  and  a  faith,  the  results  of  which  are  some- 
times apparent  at  once,  in  sudden  and  precious  sea- 
sons of  grace,  and  at  other  times  sow  the  seed  for 
harvests  in  other  days. 

The  tide  of  religious  life  rose  steadily  during  the 
stay  of  the  evangelists. 

On  the  14th  of  January  George  H.  Stuart  wrote  to 
the  Tribune'.  "  The  last  service  of  the  eighth  week  of 
Moody  and  Sankey's  labors  in  this  city  was  attended 
this  evening  by  over  thirteen  thousand  persons,  filling 
the   great  depot  building    to    its    utmost    capacity. 


254  TIMES    OF   REFRESHING. 

Many  thousands  were  turned  away,  unable  to  obtain 
even  standing  room.  The  interest  in  these  services 
has  from  the  first  steadily  increased,  and  the  labors  of 
the  evangelists  have  been  and  continue  to  be  the  all- 
absorbing  topic  of  conversation." 

The  regular  services  of  this  wonderful  series  were 
brought  to  a  close  on  the  16th  of  January.  The  total 
attendance  during  the  two  months  has  been  estimated 
at  about  seven  hundred  thousand,  and  the  number  of 
converts  has  been  placed  at  about  four  thousand.  Biit 
these  immediate  results  we  believe  to  be  the  smallest 
part  of  the  blessing  the  revival  brought  to  that  city 
and  the  surrounding  country.  Of  the  overflow  of  the 
Philadelphia  meetings  into  Pennsylvania  and  other 
states  we  speak  in  another  chapter. 

It  is  Mr.  Moody's  habit  to  return  to  the  scene  of 
the  revival  a  few  weeks  after  the  close  of  the  meetings, 
to  meet  and  strengthen  the  converts  and  to  encourage 
the  people  to  the  permanent  adoption  of  the  methods 
which  had  proved  so  successful.  On  the  4th  of  Feb- 
ruary the  evangelists  held  a  meeting  in  the  depot 
building.  It  was  densely  crowded.  Xever  more  ten- 
derly or  effectively  did  Mr.  Moody  speak  than  on  that 
occasion.  His  words  distilled  as  the  dew  on  the 
hearts  of  thousands  of  converts,  and  quickened  again 
the  thousands  of  faithful  workers  who  had  stood  so 
loyally  around  him  during*  that  blessed  campaign. 
His  closing  words,  so  full  of  pathos  and  cheer,  will 
ring  in  many  hearts  while  memory  lasts:  "  I  do  not 
like  the  word  farewell.  I'll  bid  you  good  night,  and, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  I  want  to  meet  you  in  the 
morning." 


MOODY    IN    NEW    YORK.  ZOO 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building 
in  Philadelphia  is  the  finest  in  the  country.  It  needed 
money.  At  the  closing  meeting  Mr.  Moody  took  up 
a  collection  which  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty-live  thousand  dollars.  During  the  offering 
he  read  the  following  letter: 

"Dear  Mr.  Moody:  Through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  blessed  meetings  now  closing,  my  darling  son, 
a  prodigal,  and  his  wife,  are  now  resting  in  a  Savior's 
love.  The  accompanying  ring,  the  gift  of  one  dearly 
loved,  and  so  long  worn  it  seems  a  part  of  myself,  I 
now  offer  to  my  dear  Lord  and  Master  as  a  thank 
offering  for  his  unspeakable  blessing.  Do  with  it  as 
the  Holy  Spirit  directs." 

This  ring  Mr.  Moody  put  into  the  collection.  The 
amount  realized  for  the  Association  by  its  sale  was  a 
thousand  dollars. 

The  permanence  of  the  revival  at  Philadelphia  is 
well  shown  by  the  following  words  of  John  Wana- 
maker,  spoken  in  Boston  in  May,  1877: 

"  Perhaps  I  can  not  do  better  than  to  tell  what  the 
result  has  been  of  the  movement  as  it  was  carried  on 
in  our  city.  Churches  and  ministers  are  imbued  with 
a  spirit  that  flowed  from  those  meetings.  Many  men 
that  were  once  weak  and  sinful  have  been  saved  and 
kept  by  the  power  of  God  to  bless  our  city.  I  give 
this  testimony  as  a  business  man,  standing  in  the  wit- 
ness-box and  bearing  witness  to  the  truth.  Hundreds 
of  men  converted  at  the  meetings  in  Philadelphia, 
out  of  work  and  wandering  about  the  streets,  have 
been  kept  in  the  way  they  chose  when  they  embraced 


256  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  during  the  Moody  and 
Sankey  meetings." 

Almost  without  a  day's  rest  the  evangelists  opened 
their  services  in  New  York  on  the  7th  of  February. 
The  Hippodrome,  covering  a  whole  square,  was  con- 
verted into  an  immense  audience  room.  It  had 
served  various  uses.  Once  it  was  a  depot  into  which 
and  from  which  daily  thousands  of  people  came  and 
went  on  busy  errands.  Then  it  was  a  great  menage- 
rie. Later  it  was  famous  as  the  place  where  Gil- 
more's  great  concerts  had  been  held.  At  last  it  came 
to  its  noblest  use.  Ample  preparation  had  been  made 
for  the  work.  Eight  hundred  singers  had  been 
trained  to  render  the  most  effective  aid  to  Mr.  San- 
key's  magnetic  and  powerful  voice.  Six  hundred  lay- 
men had  been  selected  and  taught,  that  they  might 
guide  inquirers  intelligently,  wisely  and  lovingly  to 
the  Savior.  The  ministers  of  all  denominations  were 
around  the  evangelists  at  their  opening  meeting,  to 
assure  them,  not  only  of  sympathy,  but  of  active  and 
hearty  co-operation. 

The  scenes  in  Brooklyn  and  Philadelphia  were  re- 
peated in  New  York.  We  do  not  know  the  feelings 
with  which  the  evangelists  went  to  the  rushing  me- 
tropolis of  our  country.  But  the  Christian  heart  of 
the  land  beat  high  with  mingled  hope  and  fear. 
Would  those  unlettered  men  catch  the  ear  of  that  ex- 
cited and  world-bound  population?  Would  they 
arrest  the  attention  long  enough  to  make  a  lasting 
impression?  Would  they  have  the  thorough  support 
of  the  learned  and  influential  and  often  conservative 


MOODY   IN   NEW   YORK.  257 

clergy  of  the  city?  These  and  many  similar  ques- 
tions in  the  hearts  of  Christian  people  throughout  all 
the  country  gave  a  tragic  interest  to  those  first  days 
of  February,  1876. 

Mr.  Moody  closed  his  sermon  at  the  first  meeting 
(which  was  attended  by  the  greatest  audience  ever  as- 
sembled for  a  religious  purpose  in  New  York)  by  say- 
ing: "The  mighty  spirit  of  Elijah  rests  upon  us  to- 
night. Let  us  go  to  our  homes  and  cry  to  the  God  of 
Elijah :  '  Here  I  am,  God,  use  me,'  that  we  may  be 
ready  for  all  his  service."  During  the  first  week  of 
the  meeting,  hundreds  of  people  were  aroused  to  a  sense 
of  their  sins,  and  the  inquiry  rooms  were  thronged 
at  once  with  inquirers.  The  temperance  work  which 
he  had  begun  in  connection  with  his  revival  meetings 
in  Philadelphia,  was  made  a  prominent  part  of  the 
work  in  New  York.  The  Friday  noon  prayer-meet- 
ing was  set  apart  to  this  special  purpose.  It  was  at- 
tended during  all  the  meetings  by  from  six  to  nine 
thousand  people.  Day  after  day,  and  week  after  week 
the  evangelists  by  the  power  of  gospel  preaching  and 
gospel  singing  moved  the  masses  as  they  had  never 
been  moved  before.  Three,  four  and  even  five  times 
a  day  the  Hippodrome  was  crowded  with  people  of  all 
denominations  and  no  denomination,  listening  to  the 
words  and  the  singing  of  the  evangelists,  not  in  idle 
curiosity,  but  with  intense  personal  interest  and  sym- 
pathy. Mr.  Moody  is  one  of  the  most  diligent  of  men, 
snatching  every  spare  moment  for  careful  preparation 
for  his  pulpit.  His  preaching,  touching  the  loftiest 
themes,  is  constantly  increasing  in  power.  It  was 
noticed  by  the  critics  in  New  York  that  his  sermons 


258  TIMES   OF    REFEKSHIKr.. 

were  richer,  fuller,  broader  than  ever  before.  Funda- 
mental facts  of  man's  ruin  and  Christ's  redemption 
were  set  forth  in  most  vivid  light,  and  impressed  with 
overwhelming  earnestness;  so  that  it  was  the  judg- 
ment, not  only  of  the  common  people,  who  heard  him 
gladly,  that  his  sermons  were  effective,  but  also  of 
professional  and  literary  men,  that  they  belonged  to 
the  highest  type  of  preaching. 

One  of  the  incidents  worthy  of  mention,  was  the 
occasion  when  Dom  Pedro  sat  near  Mr.  Moody  on 
the  platform.  The  text  was:  "  What  shall  I  do  with 
Jesus,  that  is  called  Christ."  In  the  course  of  the 
sermon,  after  the  preacher  had  exalted  the  Savior  as 
the  one  name  by  which  salvation  is  possible,  he 
turned  with  great  solemnity  to  the  Emperor  and  ex- 
claimed: "Even  a  great  Emperor  cannot  save  his 
soul  with  all  his  wealth  and  power,  unless  he  bows 
himself  at  Christ's  feet  and  accepts  Him."  To  this 
Dom  Pedro,  in  an  audible  voice,  gave  instant  and 
hearty  assent. 

On  March  29th  and  30th,  a  revival  convention  was 
held  in  the  Hippodrome  of  between  three  and  four  th<  >u- 
sand  ministers  and  others,  from  all  the  Eastern  States. 
There  is  no  doubt  this  convention  gave  an  impulse  to 
religious  work,  which  is  still  felt  throughout  the 
East. 

The  services  in  New  York  closed  April,  9, 1876.  It 
was  estimated  that  as  many  as  a  million  and  a  half  of 
people  had  attended  the  different  meetings  at  the 
Hippodrome,  and  that  ten  thousand  had  attended  the 
inquiry  meetings.  The  farewell  meeting  was  the  most 
touching,  if  not  the  most  remarkable,  of  all  the  se- 


MOODY    IN    NEW    YORK,  25 'J 

ries.  About  thirty-five  hundred  converts  were  pres- 
ent, to  whom  Mr.  Moody  spoke  with  great  earnest- 
ness, tenderness,  and  practical  wisdom.  He  bade 
them  grow  strong  in  the  divine  life  by  activity  and 
service.  He  related  as  an  example  for  all,  the  case  of 
a  young  man  converted  early  in  the  meetings,  who  had 
a  list  of  fifty-nine  persons,  with  the  residence  of  each, 
whom  he  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing  to  the 
Savior. 

In  taking  leave  of  him,  one  of  the  leading  New 
York  journals  said:  "Make  him  the  best-read 
preacher  in  the  world,  and  he  would  instantly  lose 
half  his  power.  Put  him  through  a  systematic 
training  in  systematic  theology,  and  you  fasten  big 
logs  of  fuel  to  the  driving-wheels  of  his  engine.  .  . 
We  shall  not  soon  forget  his  incomparable  frankness, 
his  broad  undenominationalism,  his  sledge-hammer 
gestures,  his  profuse  diction  which  stops  neither  for 
colons  nor  commas,  his  trueness  which  never  becomes 
conventional,  his  naturalness  which  never  whines, 
his  abhorrence  of  Pharisaism  and  of  ecclesiastical 
Machiavelism,  his  mastery  of  his  subject,  his  glori- 
ous self-confidence,  his  blameless  life,  and  his  un- 
swerving fealty  to  his  conscience  and  to  his  work." 

Mr.  Moody  does  not  care  to  measure  the  result  of 
his  labors.  It  is  of  the  nature  of  spiritual  work 
that  in  proportion  to  its  spirituality  it  eludes  all 
measurement.  The  immediate  fruits  of  the  revival 
in  New  York  were  large  accessions  to  all  the  churches 
that  were  active  in  their  support  of  the  work,  and 
a  quickened  state  of  religious  life  and  activity  mani- 
fest in  those  churches.     But  the  broader  results  and 


L^°  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

the  more  subtle  influences,  and  the  invisible  agencies 
started  there,  eternity  alone  will  disclose. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

MOODY  AND  SANKEY  IN  CHICAGO, 

The  summer  of  1876  was  a  season  of  great  interest 
and  anxiety,  not  only  to  the  Christian  people  of  Chi- 
cago,but  throughout  the  northwest.  Messrs.Moody  and 
Sankey  had  accepted  the  invitation  to  begin  labors  in 
that  city  October  1st.  Mr.  Moody  was  spending  the 
summer  months  at  jSTorthfield,  studying  his  one 
Book.  To  his  work  in  his  old  home  he  looked  for- 
ward with  special  solicitude.  He  loved  that  city 
more  than  any  other.  He  would  have  there 
a  warmth  of  co-operation  hardly  met  elsewhere.  To 
the  enthusiasm  of  his  work  would  be  added  the  ele- 
ments of  personal  friendship  and  unbounded  confi- 
dence. But  the  prophet  was  going  to  his  own  coun- 
try. No  curiosity  based  on  the  man  or  his  methods 
would  meet  him  there.  Yet  the  prayers  of  God's 
people  would  more  than  take  its  place.  He  therefore 
besought  his  friends  there  to  be  at  once  wise  and  act- 
ive in  their  outward  preparations  and  incessant  in 
their  appeals  to  the  throne  of  grace.  Indeed,  no- 
where had  plans  been  better  laid,  or  the  work  more 
prayerfully  anticipated,  than  in  Chicago. 

The  Tabernacle,  which  had  been  built  for  the  evan- 
gelists/at the  corner  of  Monroe  and  Franklin  streets, 
was  simply  an  unfinished  business  block,  the  four 


•Ml 


262  TIMES    OF    HEFKE8HING. 

walls  of  which  were  carried  up  one  story  and  roofed 
in  a  manner  to  comply  with  the  rules  of  acoustics. 
There  were  broad  galleries  around  the  entire  build- 
ing, that  in  the  rear  of  the  speaker's  platform  being- 
reserved  for  the  choir.  On  the  wall  back  of  the 
choir  was  the  word  "  Now  "  in  large  crimson  letters, 
under  which  was  in  smaller  characters,  "  is  the  accept- 
ed time."  To  the  left  the  text,  "  I  am  the  beginning 
and  the  ending,  saith  the  Lord,  which  is  and  which 
was  and  which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty."  On  the 
right,  "  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Under  the  right  gallery: 
"He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  HATH  everlasting  life." 
Under  the  front  gallery:  u  I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life."  Under  the  left  gallery:  "  The  blood  of  Je- 
sus Christ  cleanseth  from  ALL  sin." 

A  perfect  morning  dawned  on  the  first  Sunday  in 
October.  When  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  came 
upon  the  platform,  a  minute  or  two  before  eight 
o'clock,  they  found  themselves  in  the  presence  of 
seven  thousand  people,  who  at  that  early  hour  had 
been  drawn  together  from  all  parts  of  the  widely 
scattered  city  to  give  welcome  to  the  evangelists,  and 
inaugurate  the  meetings  to  which  they  had  anxious- 
ly looked  forward  for  months.  So  perfect  were  all  the 
arrangements,  thanks  to  the  efficient  executive  com- 
mittee and  their  almost  ubiquitous  chairman,  Mr.  T. 
W.  Harvey,  that  the  great  audience  was  comfortably 
seated  without  confusion  or  a  moment's  delay.  It 
was   the   judgment  of  Messrs.  Moody   and    Sankey 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  263 

that  nowhere  had  the  management  of  details  been  so 
perfect. 

Mr.  Stebbins  had  well  in  hand  a  choir  of  six  hun- 
dred of  the  best  singers  of  the  city.  When  they 
opened  the  service  on  that  morning  by  singing: 

"Joy  to  the  world, 
The  Lord  is  come," 

the  whole  audience  joining  in  the  song,  it  was  like 
the  noise  of  many  waters.  It  disclosed  the  large  and 
effective  place  which  Christian  song  has  in  these  re- 
vival meetings.  The  people  seemed  borne  upward 
on  the  rising  waves,  and  when  Mr.  Moody  began  to 
preach,  he  had  an  audience  already  deeply  moved  and 
in  sympathy  with  every  word. 

After  an  absence  of  about  three  years,  Mr.  Moody 
had  returned  to  the  scene  of  his  early  Christian 
work.  Very  seldom,  in  all  history,  have  three  years 
counted  so  much  in  the  life  of  any  man.  He  went 
away  known  to  that  community  only  as  an  earnest 
worker  among  the  masses.  He  went  with  the  sub- 
lime purpose  to  win  ten  thousand  souls  to  Christ. 
He  returned  after  such  evangelistic  labors,  with  such 
results,  and  such  seal  of  God's  Spirit  upon  his  work, 
as  have  been  accorded  to  no  man  since  the  days  of 
Whitefield.  God  had  owned  him  to  the  turning-  of 
a  multitude  to  Christ. 

Look  at  the  man  as  he  stands  before  his  friendly 
and  expectant  audience.  His  characteristics  are  man- 
ifest at  a  glance.  In  the  first  place,  he  is  eminently 
a  man  without  nonsense.  He  rises  modestly,  not 
even  looking  around  the  great  concourse,  and  in  the 
very  first  sentence,  without   introduction  of  any  sort, 


264  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

plunges  straight  into  the  heart  of  his  subject.  He 
handles  it  in  a  lawyerly,  business  way,  like  a  man 
thoroughly  intent  on  one  tiling,  and  closes  abrupt- 
ly when  he  has  finished  his  course  of  thought.  lie 
had  evidently  thought  very  little  about  his  surround- 
ings, but  is  very  intent  upon  his  Master's  business. 

Again,  his  earnestness,  always  great,  seems  to  have 
intensified  to  a  perfect  passion  for  souls.  He  pays  lit- 
tle attention  to  the  structure  or  order  of  sentences. 
Like  Paul,  he  sometimes  is  carried  over  to  the  sec- 
ond sentence  before  he  has  concluded  the  first.  And 
while  there  is  nothing  like  a  rhetorical  climax,  there 
is  ever  and  again  a  climax  of  feeling,  when  he  fair- 
ly hurls  from  him  some  short  sentence  with  terrible 
power. 

And  then  as  above  and  crowning  all,  the  Lord  has 
kept  His  servant  in  the  grace  of  humility.  He 
hides  behind  the  cross.  He  is  seeking  souls.  The 
leading  features  of  his  mind  are,  of  course,  the 
same  as  when  he  was  an  unknown  missionary  in  Chi- 
cago. The  same  masculine  directness,  by  which  he 
hews  his  way  straight  to  the  heart  of  his  subject;  the 
same  Saxon  vigor  by  which,  with  a  genius  untaught 
by  the  schools,  he  pounces  on  the  shortest,  clearest, 
strongest  words  in  which  to  incarnate  his  thought; 
his  happy  power  of  picturing,  rather  than  illustrat- 
ing, and  his  passionate  earnestness, — these  qualities 
still  mark  the  man,  and  lead  him  on  into  his  suc- 
cess. And  yet  they  have  undergone  certain  modifi- 
cations. 

II is  mind  works  more  consecutively.  The  daily 
pit ;ss  speaks  of  the  disconnected  and   rambling  style 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  265 

of  his  address.  It  is  so  only  to  superficial  attention. 
His  logic  is  not  that  of  method,  but  the  deeper  logic 
of  the  truth.  He  grasps  the  relations  not  of  forms, 
but  of  things  in  God's  Word  and  in  human  experi- 
ence, and  these  he  presents  with  unerring  accuracy. 
His  apparent  excursions  from  his  theme  bring  him 
back  to  it  again  with  new  and  unexpected  light,  and 
with  increased  momentum.  This,  indeed,  is  his  power ; 
the  tremendous  persistence  with  which  he  drives  one 
idea  to  its  very  head.  It  may  be,  in  so  doing,  lie 
rambles  over  a  whole  chapter,  but  the  central  aim  is 
never  for  a  moment  forgotten.  In  his  thought,  as  in 
his  purpose, it  is:     "This  one  thing  I  do." 

His  command  of  language  and  of  illustration  is 
more  extensive.  It  could  hardly  be  otherwise.  He 
is  not  the  man  to  pass  through  the  experience  he  has 
had  without  learning  something.  Ever  on  the  alert 
for  whatever  will  illumine  or  better  express  God's 
truth,  he  has  attained  remarkable  felicity  of  expres- 
sion and  richness  of  illustration.  That  which  next  to 
his  directness,  more  than  any  other  mental  peculiari- 
ty, makes  him  what  he  is — is  what  we  have  called  his 
picturing  power.  Let  him  describe  the  healing  of 
the  paralytic  by  the  Savior,  and  when  he  is  through 
with  the  picture,  while  you  know  you  have  often  heard 
and  had  those  ideas,  you  will  be  conscious  you  never 
heard  them  put  in  that  way.  The  condensed  statement 
of  Scripture  has  been  vitalized  and  illuminated  until 
it  seems  to  stand  out  from  the  page  in  new  and  living 
colors.  And  all  this  in  simplest  phrase,  without  ex- 
travagance or  wild  fancy.  The  power  of  recovering 
a  familiar  statement  from  the  commonplaceness  into 


266  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

which,  iii  most  minds,  it  is  sure  to  fall,  and  invest- 
ing it  with  new  and  living  forms,  recalls  to  mind 
the  pictures  into  which  John  Bunyan  converts  the 
worn  statements  of  Christian  experience. 

There  is  one  characteristic  of  Mr.  Moody — perhaps 
we  should  say  the  distinguishing  feature  of  his  mind — 
has  undergone  no  perceptible  change.  His  earnestness, 
that  throws  a  white  light  over  all  his  words,  is  the 
same  now  as  ever.  He  always  wTas  at  white  heat,  only, 
of  course,  it  gives  added  force  to  the  accumulations  of 
past  years.  And  it  is  the  hiding  of  his  power.  He 
had  it,  when  an  unknown  worker,  he  went  about  the 
streets  of  Chicago  beseeching  men  to  come  to 
Christ.  It  has  driven  him  on  these  eighteen  years, 
crushing  down  every  obstacle  in  his  path,  and  con- 
verting failure  into  success. 

His  opening  sermon  was  from  the  text:  "Jesus 
said  take  away  the  stone ;*'  the  three  stones  being 
unbelief,  prejudice  and  sectarianism.  He  closed  his 
sermon  on  this  lofty  ground: 

''We  are  not  doing  this  work  for  the  sake  of  this 
creed  or  that  creed,  but  lor  the  sake  of  Christ.  I  re- 
member the  story  of  the  missionary  Mrs.  Judson, 
who  was  obliged  to  send  her  children  back  to  her  own 
country  because  they  could  not  be  educated  in  India. 
She  could  not  go;  her  work  was  pressing,  and  she 
must  stay.  So  she  took  her  children  on  board  the 
vessel,  and,  just  as  she  was  about  to  go  away  and 
leave  them,  she  knelt  down  on  the  deck  and  prayed 
this  prayer:  'Lord  Jesus,  I  do  this  for  Thee.'  Let 
this  be  our  spirit  as  we  enter  upon  this  work.  No 
self-seeking,  but  everything  for  the  Lord  Jesus." 


MOODY  IN   CHICAGO.  267 

At  the  close  of  the  service  the  ministers  of  the  city 
gathered  with  most  cordial  greeting,  around  him  and 
Mr.  Sankey,  both  of  whom  were  visibly  affected  by 
this  token  of  brotherly  love,  confidence,  and  co-oper- 
ation. 

The  afternoon,  however,  brought  the  great  sur- 
prise of  the  day.  Three-quarters  of  an  hour  before 
time  for  commencing,  fully  eight  thousand  people 
were  in  the  Tabernacle,  and  the  doors  were  closed. 
Before  four  o'clock  as  many  more  were  surging 
around  the  doors  and  blockading  the  streets.  Far- 
well  Hall  was  opened,  and  in  less  than  ten  minutes 
was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity  of  sitting  and 
standing  room.  Mr.  Sankey  and  several  ministers 
were  sent  for,  and  for  an  hour  that  "  overflowing" " 
was  continued,  with  every  indication  of  aroused  feel- 
ing and  interest.  Addresses  were  delivered  by  Rev. 
Messrs.  Goodwin,  Kittredge,  Chamberlain  and 
Thompson,  and  Mr.  Sankey  sang,  as  only  he  can, 
"  The  Ninety  and  Nine,"  and  other  favorite  pieces. 
His  voice  had  its  full  melody  and  power,  and  he  sang 
so  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  that  when  the  sounds 
of  the  last  song  died  to  silence,  many  all  over  the 
audience  were  bowed  in  tears. 

All  the  papers  of  the  city,  both  secular  and  relig- 
ious seemed  at  once  enlisted  in  the  work.  The  In- 
terior of  Oct.  5,  spoke  hopefully  and  enthusiastically 
thus: 

"  So  the  great  work  has  begun — a  work  that,  we 
believe,  will  spread  throughout  the  West.  How 
many  churches  are  waiting  the  reports  from  this  city? 
How  many  will  be  made  glad  as  the  tidings  come  to 


268  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

them  of  what  the  Lord  has  already  hegun  to  do  here? 
Who  shall  measure  the  responsibility  of  Christians 
now?  Only  God  can  gird  them  with  strength  for 
this  day.  The  battle  is  still  before  us,  but  the  long 
roll  has  been  sounded.  Let  every  soldier  loyal  to 
Christ  spring  to  his  place." 

The  perfect  unity  of  the  Christian  Churches  of  Chi- 
cago was  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  facts  of  the 
early  period  of  this  revival.  It  is  the  test  claim  of 
High-churchmen  that  external  organization  gives 
the  most  perfect  Christian  unity.  But  no  particular 
church  on  earth,  however  compact  its  external  organ- 
ization, ever  exhibited  a  more  perfect  unity  of  spirit, 
aim  and  end,  than  was  exhibited  by  those  congregated 
thousands,  drawn  together  from  day  to  day,  in  the 
great  Tabernacle,  from  all  existing  churches.  The 
wide  world  cannot  furnish  an  assemblage  of  men  and 
women  who  have  more  in  common,  are  bound  together 
in  a  profounder  sympathy,  and  give  a  more  practical 
demonstration  of  oneness  in  Christ.  It  is  the  very 
fact  and  ideal  of  that  Christian  brotherhood,  that 
unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  .bond  of  peace,  which  the 
New  Testament  enjoins  upon  the  disciples  of  Christ. 

If  an  outside  observer,  feeling  no  interest  and  tak- 
ing no  part  in  this  great  work,  should  ask,  what  is 
the  secret  of  this  attraction,  the  tie  which  binds  these 
hearts  in  common  sympathy,  the  impelling  cause  of 
so  much  enthusiasm  and  so  much  labor,  the  only  an- 
swer would  be,  it  is  the  gospel  of  Christ,  the  essen- 
tial doctrines,  the  essential  precepts,  the  essential 
hopes  and  promises  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  It  is 
the  vital,  saving  Christianity  of  the   New  Testament 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  269 

—that  Christianity  which  Jesus  Christ  provided  in 
his  death,  which  the  apostles  preached  in  his  names 
which  the  Church  of  all  ages  has  received  and  held 
as  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto 
salvation.  This  is  the  one  theme  of  all  the  sermons 
preached  by  Mr.  Moody  and  his  associate  evangel- 
ists. This  is  the  keynote  of  all  the  songs  poured 
forth  by  Mr.  Sankey  in  melting  solo,  or  lifted  up  m 
enrapturing  chorus  by  ten  thousand  voices  around.  It 
is  the  story  of  the  Cross.  It  is  the  love  of  God  in 
Christ  for  perishing  sinners.  It  is  the  great  mystery 
of  Godliness.  It  is  the  beauty  of  Immanuel.  It  is 
the  attraction  of  a  Savior,  who  is  God  with  us,  who 
lived,  suffered,  died,  rose  again,  and  ascended  to 
heaven  for  our  redemption.  This  accounts  for  it  all, 
explains  it  all,  justifies  it  all.  Because  of  this  the 
meetings  were  a  success  from  the  beginning. 

The  faith  of  God's  people,  however,  met  with  a  se- 
vere test  before  the  close  of  the  first  week  of 
the  meetings.  On  Friday  evening,  Oct.  6th, 
an  immense  audience  gathered  at  the  Taberna- 
cle. It  had  been  a  day  of  peculiar  blessing.  The 
noon  prayer-meeting  had  witnessed  a  remarkable  dis- 
play of  the  grace  of  God  in  the  heart- sea rchings  of 
His  people.  With  tender  hearts  they  assembled  in 
the  evening,  and  with  large  expectation  of  a  great 
blessing.  But  at  six  o'clock  that  evening  Mr.  Moody 
had  received  a  dispatch  announcing  the  death  of  his 
youngest  brother.  He  called  the  ministers  around 
him  in  his  room,  at  the  rear  of  the  platform,  to  in- 
quire what  should  be  done.  His  heart  was  deeply 
bowed.      He   felt    he  must   start  at  once  to    stand 


270  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

by  his  aged  mother's  side  in  the  hour  of  her  great 
sorrow.  No  one  could  say  him  nay.  But  the  great 
audience  was  waiting  to  hear  the  Word  of  God  from 
his  mouth.  A  moment  of  prayer  for  guidance,  and 
then  with  one  consent  the  work  of  leading  the  meet- 
inge  was  laid  on  Maj.  Whittle.  The  announcement 
that  Mr.  Moody  had  gone  came  like  a  great  disap- 
pointment and  grief  to  the  waiting  thousands.  But 
at  once  every  Christian  heart  seemed  to  raise  the 
cry.  Why  is  this?  What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
Providence?  And  the  answer  did  not  linger.  God 
would  try  the  faith  of  His  people.  He  would  see 
whether  they  could  trust  him  when  their  leader  was 
taken  away.  For  a  few  moments  it  was  debated 
among  the  ministers  whether  the  meetings  should  ^o 
on  in  the  Tabernacle,  or  be  held  in  Farwell  Hall.  It 
wa63  however,  only  for  a  few  moments.  Was  not  the 
Lord  able  to  make  good  the  absence  of  the  leader? 
Was  not  this  the  grandest  opportunity  of  the  Church 
to  cast  itself  on  God?  Was  not  this  God's  time  to 
vindicate  His  cause  in  the  presence  of  a  scoffing 
world?  So  it  was  announced  the  meetings  would  go 
on  in  the  Tabernacle. 

On  Sunday  afternoon  many  prayerful  hearts  vibra- 
ted between  faith  and  fear,  as  they  went  toward  the 
great  building.  Would  God,  indeed,  gather  his  host 
there,  and  go  forth  with  them  to  battle?  He  was  bet- 
ter than  all  the  fears.  The  house  was  packed  in  ev- 
ery part.  It  was  a  significant  demonstration  of  faith 
in  God.  It  was  the  victory  of  that  faith  whose  trial 
is  more  precious  than  gold. 

The  power  of  the   meeting  was  not  in  the  numbers 


MOODY    IN    CHICAGO.  2,1 

alone.  There  was  a  hushed  solemnity,  and  a  depth 
of  feeling  which  only  God's  Spirit  can  produce.  And 
after  the  main  service,  a  thousand  people  crowded 
into  the  inquiry  rooms  to  wait  on  God  in  prayer.  It 
was  a  day  of  faith  and  joyful  hope  and  new  encourage- 
ment. Thus  out  of  disappointment  can  the  Lord 
bring  victory. 

There  was  still  another  preparation  for  the  great  re- 
vival  which  was  to  follow.  That  was  in  the  hearts 
i>f  God's  people.  During  that  summer  Mr.  Moody 
had  been  carefully  studying  Mr.  Finney's  Autobiog- 
raphy, and  his  Lectures  on  Revivals.  "The  result 
was  a  conviction  that  there  ought  to  be  deeper 
ploughing  in  the  spiritual  iields;  that  conversions 
will  be  superficial  unless  they  spring  from  convic- 
tions of  sin  and  a  whole-hearted  renunciation  of  it; 
and  that  revivals  will  be  limited  and  shallow,  unless 
the  church  not  only  warms  up  from  coldness,  but 
turns  from  tangible  and  visible  sins,  that  bring  re- 
proach on  religion."  Therefore  both  Mr.  Moody  and 
Mr.  Whittle  began  at  the  house  of  Israel.  The  preach- 
ing, prayer-meetings,  and  Bible-readings  of  the  first 
two  weeks  were  all  directed  toward  breaking  up  the 
fallow  ground  of  Christian  hearts.  The  effect  was  sol- 
emn, tender  and  humbling  beyond  description.  Writ- 
ing at  this  time  of  this  characteristic  of  the  work  in 
Chicago,  the  Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  D.  D.,  forcibly 
says : 

"  The  real  stumbling-block  before  the  unconverted 
is  not  so  much  that  professed  Christians  have  been 
'cold,'  as  to  exhibiting  a  sentimental  fervor;  as  it 
is,  that  they  have  committed  positive  infractions  of 


9,79 


TIMKS  OF    REFHESHING, 


the  law  of  love;  that  they  have  been  guilty  of  evil 
tempers,  of  backbiting,  of  slander,  of  falsehood,  of 
breaches  of  promise,  of  unfaithfulness  in  pecuniary 
trusts,  of  fraud,  of  oppression,  of  political  corrup- 
tion, of  covetousness  in  many  forms.  So  long  as 
these  things  are  not  confessed  and  put  away,  and  ap- 
propriate reparation  made  to  the  injured,  so  long  it 
is  of  little  use  to  wax  warm  in  revival  meetings. 
Ministers  may  preach  a  free  redemption,  and  zealous 
church  members  may  sing  and  pray  with  the  greatest 
fervor;  but  if,  meanwhile,  the  church  neglect  disci- 
pline, and  these  individual  tangible  sins  remain  a 
stumbling-blocks,  the  gospel  will  have  little  effect 
upon  the  unconverted.  A  revival  which  proceeds 
from  general  prayer,  singing  and  'Bible-readings'  to 
personal  confessions  and  restitutions,  which  shows 
power  to  give  Christians  the  victory  over  their  actu- 
al lusts  and  iniquities,  will  convince  the  world  of  its 
divine  authorship;  and  no  other  will  or  can." 

The  meetings  during  the  week  of  Mr.  Moody's 
absence,  under  the.  conduct  of  Mr.  Whittle,  were 
greatly  blessed  to  the  quickening  of  God's  people. 
Such  searching  of  heart,  such  humiliation  and  con- 
fession among  Christians,  not  many  had  ever  seen  be- 
fore. Along  the  path  of  that  humbling  experience 
the  whole  Church  seemed  to  walk  together  from  day 
to  day.  The  direct,  Scripture-based,  and  therefore 
searching  appeals  of  the  leader,  met  a  ready  response 
in  thousands  of  Christian  hearts.  So  directly  was 
the  Church  led  to  cast  itself  on  God  that  it  must 
have  been  plain  to  those  who  looked  on  the  meetings, 
from  the  outside,  that  the  ruling  spirit  of  those  hush- 


MOODY    IN    CHICAGO.  273 

ed  and  solemn  gatherings  was  not  the  romance  of 
new  measures,  nor  the  enthusiasm  of  any  human 
leadership,  but  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  On 
Friday  evening,  the  closing  service  of  the  week,  the 
leader  seemed  to  be  borne  up  by  the  prayers  of 
Christians  as  never  before,  and  his  call  to  the  Church 
to  consecrate  itself  to  God  and  come  up  to  his  help 
against  the  mighty,  rang  like  a  bugle-call.  A  tele- 
gram from  Mr.  Moody  was  read,  announcing  that  if 
all  went  well,  he  would  return  on  Saturday  morning 
and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting,  the  great  audience, 
rising  to  their  feet,  sang  u  Hold  the  Fort,"  till  the 
building  rang  again  with  the  echoes  of  the  inspiring 
song. 

Sunday  was  a  perfect  autumn  day.  In  the  crisp 
early  morning  thousands  wended  their  way  from  all 
parts  of  the  city  to  the  Tabernacle,  that  had  already 
become  a  sacred  spot.  There  were  fully  six  thousand 
people  in  the  building  at  eight  o'clock.  Mr.  Moody's 
address  on  "  Finding  your  brother,"  was  more  tender 
even  than  ususal,  and  words  and  tone  alike  bore 
marks  of  the  sorrow  he  had  passed  through  and  the 
grace  that  had  sustained  him  under  it.  His  heart  was 
full  to  overflowing,  and  there  were  very  few  dry 
eyes  in  the  house  as  he  besought  each  one  to  go  and 
find  his  brother. 

In  the  afternoon  the  Tabernacle  was  full  nearly  an 
hour  before  time  for  the  service  to  begin.  Farwell 
Hall  was  soon  packed,  and  then  the  First  Methodist 
Church,  and  crowds  still  in  the  streets  unable  to  find 
entrance  anywhere. 

Again  in  the  evening,  the  great  hall  was  overflow- 


274.  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

ing,  and  several  churches  where  evangelists  were  hold- 
ing services,  were  crowded  to  the  utmost  capacity. 
At  the  First  Baptist  Church,  where  Rev.  Mr.  Need- 
ham  addressed  a  union  meeting  of  the  First  Baptist, 
Fifth  Presbyterian  and  Michigan  avenue  M.  E. 
churches,  about  forty  asked  the  prayers  of  God's 
people. 

Monday  marked  perhaps  the  most  decided  advance 
in  the  work.  The  noon  prayer-meeting  wras,  as  usual, 
densely  crowded,  and  at  its  close  Mr.  Moody  called  a 
meeting  for  women  exclusively.  About  five  hundred 
assembled  and  decided  upon  a  daily  meeting  for 
prayer.  A  very  large  number  of  wTives  and  mothers 
asked  prayers  for  husbands  and  sons.  Mr.  Moody  says 
he  never  knew7  of  so  many  only  sous  being  brought  in 
the  arms  of  faith,  as  at  that  meeting. 

At  the  close  of  the  evening  service  in  the  Taber- 
nacle, the  first  inquiry  meeting  was  held.  Christians 
who  were  burdened  for  souls,  and  inquirers,  wTere  the 
only  ones  invited  to  remain.  About  nine  hundred 
gathered  in  the  two  inquiry  rooms.  Mr.  Moody  led 
the  meeting  in  one  room  and  Mr.  San  key  in  the 
other.  About  seventy  inquirers  presented  themselves 
for  the  prayers  of  Christians,  and  amid  many  tears  and 
prayers,  and  much  tender  and  sympathizing  counsel, 
they  were  commended  to  the  Savior. 

During  the  following  weeks  the  work  constantly 
increased  in  solemnity,  both  among  church  members 
and  the  unconverted.  In  the  reports  in  the  noon 
meetings  it  began  to  be  apparent  that  the  Tabernacle 
work  was  being  felt  in  the  churches.  It  is  here  wor- 
thy of  remark  that  those  churches,    whose   pastors 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  *Uo 

and  members  were  active  in  their  support  of  the  cen- 
tral meetings,  did  not  fail  to  have  a  great  blessing  in 
their  own  fields.  As  one  of  the  pastors,  who  was 
untiring  in  his  services  at  the  Tabernacle,  expressed 
it:  "  When  the  great  tide  wave  comes  in  I  have  no 
fear  but  my  little  pond  will  be  filled/' 

On  Sabbath  evening,  October  29th,  Mr.  Moody 
preached  to  an  overflowing  audience  in  the  Taberna- 
cle one  of  his  most  effective  sermons,  on  "  Excuses 
for  not  coming  to  Christ."  We  give  an  extract  from 
that  sermon  as  a  good  illustration  of  his  graphic, 
trenchant,  and  direct  style  of  address: 

"  Will  you  stay  to-night  and  accept  this  invitation? 
Don't  make  light  of  it.  I  can  imagine  some  of  you 
saying,  '  Well,  I  never  got  so  low  as  to  make  light  of 
religion.'  Suppose  I  got  an  invitation  to  dinner 
from  a  citizen  of  Chicago  for  to-morrow  and  I  don't 
answer  it;  I  tear  the  invitation  up.  Would  not  thai 
be  making  light  of  it?  Suppose  you  pay  no  atten- 
tion to  the  invitation  to-night;  is  not  that  making 
light  of  it?  Would  any  one  here  be  willing  to  write 
out  an  excuse  something  like  this:  <  The  Taberna- 
cle, October  20th.  To  the  King  of  Heaven:  While 
sitting  in  the  Tabernacle  to-day  I  received  a  very 
pressing  invitation  from  one  of  your  servants  to 
sit  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Son  of  God.  I 
pray  you  have  me  excused.'  Is  there  one  person 
in  this  assembly  would  take  his  pen  and  write 
his  name  at  the  bottom  of  it?  Is  there  a  person 
whose  right  hand  would  not  forget  its  cun- 
ning, and  whose  tongue  would  not  cleave  to  his 
mouth  if  he  were  trying  to  do  it  ?     Well,  you  are  doing 


276 


TIME&    OF    REFRESHING. 


this  if  you  get  up  and  go  right  out  after  you  have 
heard  the  invitation.  Who  will  write  this?  "  To  the 
Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  Glory:  While  sitting  in 
the  Tabernacle  this  beautiful  Sabbath  evening,  Octo- 
ber 29th,  1876,  I  received  a  pressing  invitation  from 
one  of  your  servants  to  be  present  at  the  marriage 
supper.  I  hasten  to  accept.'  Will  any  one  sign 
this?  Who  will  put  his  name  to  it?  Is  there  not 
a  man  or  woman  saying  down  deep  in  his  soul 
4  By  the  Grace  of  God  I  will  sign  it;'  <  I  will  sign 
it  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  will  meet  that  sainted 
mother  who  has  gone  there;'  '  I  will  sign  and  accept 
that  invitation  and  meet  that  loving  or  dear  child.' 
Are  there  not  some  here  to-night  who  will  accept 
that  invitation?" 

This  kind  of  preaching,  and  the  singing  that  ac- 
companied it,  reached  at  once  the  hearts  of  the  im- 
penitent. The  very  first  night  the  inquiry  room  was 
thronged  with  inquirers  and  their  friends.  And  be- 
cause Christians  had  gone  forth  carrying  the  invitations 
of  the  gospel,  many  sinners  were  breaking  the  stillness 
of  praying  circles  by  the  old  cry,  "  Men  and  brethren, 
what  m  ust  we  do  to  be  saved  ?"  And  what  is  worthy  of 
special  mention — the  class  first  aroused  was  not.  as 
is  frequently  the  case,  those  who  had  long  been  al- 
most persuaded,  the  children  of  Sunday  schools  and 
Christian  families,  and  the  regular  attendants  upon 
the  services  of  God's  house,  but  men  and  women  out- 
side of  religious  influences,  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  Church.  In  many  cases,  the  earliest  inquirers 
came  from  the  "  churchless  masses,"  who  were  weary 
with  the  burden  of  great  sins,  and  wanted  to  find  rest 


MOODY   IN    CHICAGO.  25 1  « 

unto  their  souls.  Notably,  many  drunkards  came 
crying  for  deliverance  from  the  accursed  thralldom, 
and  found  in  Jesus  one  "  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost." 
In  the  daily  gospel  temperance  meetings  scores  (A'  in- 
ebriates gathered  for  prayer  and  scores  of  witnesses 
stood  up  to  praise  the  grace  that  had  set  the  cap- 
tive free.  Of  the  temperance  work,  which  began 
with  the  third  week  and  continued  with  increasing 
power  to  the  end  of  the  meetings,  we  will  speak  in  a 
following  chapter. 

The  sixth  week  marked  another  advance  in  the 
work.  Many  revivals  have  begun  in  the  more  sus- 
ceptible mind  of  childhood,  and  afterward  have 
reached  those  of  maturer  years.  The  first  trophies  of 
this  one,  as  we  have  already  remarked,  were  among 
those,  who  had  either  not  been  accustomed  to  the 
means  of  grace,  or  had  long  been  hardened  under 
them.  But  now,  in  the  second  week  of  November,  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  was  present  in  many  Sunday- 
school  meetings,  reaching  many  a  young  heart.  In 
many  a  school,  classes  and  teachers  might  have  been 
seen  weeping  together  in  common  anxiety  and  ten- 
derness of  heart.  There  were  many  conversions 
among  the  little  ones,  secured  by  the  blessing  of  the 
Spirit  upon  a  clear  and  simple  teaching  of  Christ  as  a 
present  Savior  to  all  who  will  sincerely  receive  him. 
So  the  accessions  to  the  churches,  as  the  fruit  of  the 
first  month  of  these  special  services  embraced  a  very 
wide  range  of  life  and  experience,  old  and  young,  pa- 
rents and  children,  hardened  sinners  accepting  the  yoke 
of  the  Master  who  had  stricken  off  their  chains,  and 
little  ones  from  Christian  homes  and  Sunday  school 


278  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

classes,  together  taking  upon  them  the  name  of  Christ. 

We  have  not  space  for  a  full  description  of  the 
work  of  all  these  weeks.  Their  general  and  outward 
features  may  thus  be  summed:  A  noon-day  prayer- 
meeting  at  Far  well  Hall,  attended  by  from  two  to 
three  thousand,  followed  by  a  second  meeting  for  wo- 
men in  the  main  hall,  and  for  men  in  the  lower  hall  ; 
frequently  a  Bible  reading  at  three  o'clock;  tabernacle 
service  at  eight  in  the  evening,  followed  by  a  second 
meeting  in  the  main  hall,  and  inquiry  meetings  in  the 
various  inquiry  rooms;  and,  toward  the  close  of  the 
meetings,  a  young  men's  meeting  in  Farwell  Hall. 
In  addition  to  these  general  services,  there  were  many 
special  meetings  of  various  kinds.  The  whole  city 
seemed  converted  into  a  scene  of  religious  activity. 
Unwonted  conversations  filled  the  ear.  In  office, 
store,  street-car  and  stages,  men  discussed  the  one 
over-shadowing  subject,  sometimes  in  tones  criti- 
cal and  wondering,  occasionally  in  words  of  denuncia- 
tion, often  in  words  of  sympathy  and  joy,  but  always 
earnestly,  as  men  discuss  things  that  have  laid  a  firm 
grasp  upon  the  popular  thought. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  revival  wTas  securing  so 
firm  a  hold  upon  the  people  of  Chicago,  the  lines  of 
it  were  going  out  throughout  the  states  of  the  North- 
west. Through  the  labors  of  Whittle  and  Bliss  in 
Kalamazoo  and  Jackson,  Michigan,  and  other  places, 
of  Needham  and  Stebbins  in  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  of 
Morehouse  in  Racine,  of  Morton  in  Joliet,  and  other 
evangelists  in  many  other  towns  and  villages,  the  re- 
vival became  general  through  all  the  regions  round 
about. 


MOODY   IN    CHICAGO.  279 

Multitudes  of  incidents  might  be  gathered  to  show 
how  diffusive  was  this  work  of  grace  at  this  time  upon 
all  classes  of  people. 

In  one  of  the  churches  in  the  city,  at  the  close  o\'  a 
Sunday  school  meeting,  a  little  girl  of  ten  or  twelve 
came  to  her  pastor  and  said:  "  I  want  to  tell  you 
that,  last  Sunday  evening,  I  gave  my  heart  to  the 
Savior."  Her  pastor  said:  "Now  can't  you  bring 
your  father  ?  I  am  praying  for  him,  and  I  want  you 
to  help  me."  The  child  burst  into  tears  and  said  she 
would  try.  At  the  evening  service  on  the  same  day, 
that  father  was  bowed  in  tears.  During  the  inquiry 
meeting  the  pastor  went  to  him,  told  him  about  the 
prayers  and  tears  of  his  little  daughter.  Then  and 
there  the  man  kneeled  before  God  and  gave  himself 
up  to  Christ;  and  rising  from  his  knees,  confessed  the 
Savior  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people.  His  only 
grief  was  that  instead  of  bringing  his  child,  as  a  father 
ought  to  do,  his  child  had  to  bring  him.  Yet  this  is 
according  to  Scripture.  "  Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes 
and  sucklings  hast  thou  ordained  strength." 

The  power  of  the  press,  not  only  as  an  agency  foi 
spreading  the  tidings,  but  also  for  widening  the 
work,  is  well  brought  out  in  the  following  incident: 
At  the  close  of  one  of  the  noon-prayer-meetings  in 
Farwell  Hall,  a  young  man,  who  had  arisen  for 
prayers,  sought  an  interview  with  one  of  the  pastors. 

The  minister  learned  that  Mr.  A lived  in  a  neisrh- 

boring  city,  and  had  known  of  the  revival  only  through 
the  reports  of  the  daily  papers,  which  he  had  read, 
lie  had  been  utterly  without  religion,  but  the  read- 
ing of  those  printed  reports  awakened  within  him  for 


280  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

the  first  time,  a  spiritual  hunger.  He  said  to  him- 
self: "  If  these  things  are  true,  the  people  there  are 
having  a  blessing,  which  I  also  need.  I  will  go  and 
seek  it."  "And  now,"  said  he  to  the  minister,  "  I 
want  to  be  a  Christian." 

"Will  you  kneel  down  with  me  here  and  consecrate 
yourself  to  God?" 

"I  will." 

The  two  knelt  in  prayer,  the  minister  first  com- 
mending the  young  man  to  the  grace  and  love  of  the 
Savior,  and  Mr.  A ,  in  broken  utterance  surren- 
dering himself  to  be  the  Lord's.  He  went  home  with 
the  purpose  of  living  a  Christian  life,  making  known 
to  his  friends  the  step  he  had  taken,  and  trying  to 
lead  others  to  the  joy  he  had  found.      A  few  weeks 

after  this  occurrence,  early  one  morning  Mr.  A 

came  to  the  study  of  this  pastor  and  said: 

"  I  have  come  to  say  good-bye  to  you." 

"  Are  you  going  away  ? " 

"  Yes,  I  am  going  to  start  for  Sweden  to-night.  I 
have  a  father  and  mother  there,  who  are  out  of  Christ; 
a  father,  who  has  been  a  drunkard  for  forty  years.  I 
must  go  and  tell  the  good  news  and  preach  the  gos- 
pel to  them." 

"Had  you  thought  of  going  home  at  this    time?" 

His  reply  was  born  of  sublime  faith.  "Not  until 
I  was  converted;  but  my  father  and  mother  are  not 
safe,  and  I  cannot  rest  until  I  have  spoken  to  them  of 
Jesus.  Pray  for  me  that  God  will  help  me  to  reach  their 
hearts."  And  so  with  a  purpose  as  single  as  Paul's, 
he  went  away  on  a  journey  of  five  thousand  miles  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  his  kindred.     From  his  home  in 


MOODY    IN    CHICAGO.  281 

Sweden  he  wrote  back  to  that  minister,  asking  for 
prayers,  that  he  might  have  more  grace.  His  words 
had  not  yet  been  blessed  to  the  saving  of  the  souls  that 
were  dear  to  him ;  but  surely  such  faith  wTill  have  its 
reward. 

In  the  last  week  of  November,  a  Christian  conven- 
tion representing  the  states  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indi- 
ana, Missouri,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Michigan, 
and  Minnesota  convened  in  the  Tabernacle.  Great 
earnestness  and  prayerfulness  characterized  all  its  ses- 
sions. Subjects  of  practical  interest,  and  the  various 
branches  of  church  work  were  prominently  discussed. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  meetings  was 
the  Question  Drawer  on  Thursday.  Mr.  Moody's 
genius  of  common  sense  was  never  more  conspicuous 
than  on  that  day.  Nearly  a  hundred  questions  were 
presented  for  answer.  They  did  not  come  into  Mr. 
Moody's  hands  until  the  beginning  of  the  meeting. 
The  answers  were  of  course  extemporaneous,  save  as 
his  experience  of  similar  meetings  in  many  places 
gave  him  a  general  fund  of  ready  knowledge  on  the 
practical  questions  which  naturally  come  up  in  every 
similar  convention.  His  aptness  of  word  and  illus- 
tration, his  sensible  viewrs  on  all  points  of  church 
work,  the  breadth  of  his  knowledge  and  the  happy 
faculty  of  speaking  the  truth  in  unfailing  love  and 
charity,  made  that  hour  one  long  to  be  remembered. 
Though  a  few  of  the  questions  reflected  somewhat 
upon  the  evangelists,  or  their  methods,  his  buoyant 
o-ood  nature  carried  him  triumphantly  over  every 
perilous  place.  Some  one  had  the  bad  taste  to  pro- 
pound this  question:     "Why  do  the  evangelists  know 


282  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

so  little  about  science?  "  Without  a  moment's  hesi- 
tation, and  with  an  enthusiasm  that  was  perfectly 
electric,  he  cried  out:  " Because  we  have  something 
better."  Of  course  there  was  nothing  left  of  that  ques- 
tion. 

In  the  closing  hours  of  the  convention,  Mr.  Moody 
gave  a  forcible  address  upon  inquiry  meetings,  and 
how  to  conduct  them.  In  his  judgment  an  inquiry 
meeting  should  follow  every  sermon,  addressed  espe- 
cially to  the  unconverted.  In  his  one  pertinent' 
phrase:  "We  must  draw  the  net."  The  effect  of 
this  would  be  threefold;  it  would  impress  sinners 
with  the  truth  that  we  are  expecting  them  to  come  to 
Christ;  it  would  make  Christians  feel  a  responsibility 
in  bringing  the  impenitent  to  church;  and  it  would 
give  greater  directness  to  the  aim  of  the  preaching. 
The  straightest,  smoothest  arrow  would  be  laid  upon 
the  string. 

At  the  last  session  of  the  convention,  Mr.  Moody 
proposed  the  formation  of  a  Prayer  Alliance  among 
the  churches  of  the  Northwest.  About  three  hundred 
churches  were  at  once  enrolled,  to  make  daily  solemn 
prayer  for  each  other,  and  it  is  believed  that  many 
revivals  throughout  the  Western  states  may  be  traced 
to  this  alliance. 

During  the  month  of  December  the  meetings  went 
on  in  a  constantly  deej)ening  tide.  As  the  time  ap- 
proached for  the  departure  of  the  evangelists  there 
seemed  to  be  an  increasing  interest  in  the  services,  an 
increasing  unwillingness  to  have  the  great  central 
meeting  close.  Especially  did  the  active  Christians  of 
the  city  feel  that  the  Tabernacle  was  solving  a  great 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  28$ 

practical  question.  That  question  was  this:  "How 
to  reach  the  people  with  the  gospel  ?  "  A  square  mile 
or  two  in  the  heart  of  the  city  contains  about  a  hun- 
dred thousand  people,  in  boarding  houses,  hotels  and 
flats.  There  is  not  accessible  church  accommodation 
for  one-fifth  of  this  multitude.  They  must  either 
stay  at  home  or  chase  after  the  churches  in  their  ave- 
nue march.  The  Tabernacle  was  built  in  the  midst 
of  them,  free,  cheerful  and  inviting.  Day  after  day, 
and  night  after  night,  a  motley  throng  from  alleys, 
streets,  and  avenues,  from  cellers,  garrets  and  parlors 
had  crowded  the  building.  On  a  single  Sunday  as 
many  as  twenty  thousand  had  heard  the  gospel  there. 
A  notable  feature  of  the  work  was  its  extra-church 
character.  The  pastor  of  one  of  the  largest  churches 
remarked  that  among  the  hundreds  with  whom  he  had 
talked  in  the  inquiry  rooms,  there  had  not  been  five 
from  his  own  congregation.  The  seekers  after  life  in 
a  vast  majority  of  cases  had  been  people  outside  of 
churches.  Many  were  from  the  uncared-for,  and  out- 
cast multitude.  Hungry  for  sympathy,  love  and 
counsel,  they  had  eagerly  seized  the  outstretched 
hand  of  help.  Bearing  these  facts  in  mind,  it  was  re- 
solved by  those  having  the  meetings  in  charge,  that, 
as  long  as  possible  after  the  departure  of  the  evangel- 
ists, the  Tabernacle  services  should  be  continued,  and 
that  they  should  be  placed  in  charge  of  Messrs.  Whit- 
tle and  Bliss. 

These  plans  were  made  about  the  middle  of 
December.  In  two  weeks  an  overwhelming  prov- 
idence had  cut  them  short.  It  had  been  an- 
nounced that  on  Sunday  morning,  December  31,  Mr. 


284:  TIMES   OF   KEFKESHING. 

P.  P.  Bliss  would  be  present  to  assist  in  the  Taber- 
nacle service.  On  the  Friday  evening  preceding,  the 
express  train  plunged  through  the  bridge  at  Ashta- 
bula. The  tidings  of  the  sudden  and  awful  death  of 
the  sweet  singer  and  his  wife  fell  crushingly  upon  the 
very  large  circle  of  their  friends  in  Chicago.  The 
scene  at  the  Tabernacle  on  that  Sunday  morning  will 
never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  present.  The 
whole  great  audience  bowed  as  under  the  touch  of 
God.  It  was  the  second  time  that  place  had  been  the 
scene  of  a  great  sorrow  and  a  great  sympathy.  At 
its  opening  it  was  consecrated  by  grief  in  the  tidings 
that  hurried  Mr.  Moody  to  the  grave  of  his  brother. 
And  now,  near  the  close  of  the  services,  it  was  draped 
in  mourning  because  Bliss  had  been  so  suddenly, 
mysteriously  taken  from  his  songs  on  earth.  Heaven's 
choir  needed  another  sweet  voice. 

We  give  elsewhere  an  estimate  of  the  place  his 
songs  do  now,  and  for  many  years  to  come  will  hold 
in  revival  and  evangelistic  services.  Their  continued 
influence  and  power  is  the  long  comfort  of  the  Christian 
public,  the  ever  deepening  consolation  that  falls  like 
his  own  superb  melodies  around  his  death.  But  only 
those  who  were  present  in  the  Tabernacle  on  the 
morning  when  the  hour  that  was  to  be  his  welcome 
became  his  dirge,  can  realize  what  a  test  to  the  faith 
of  God's  people  was  this  Providential  interference 
with  their  plans.  But  God's  eternal  thought  moves 
on,  even  when  all  human  reserves  fail,  and  so  he 
raised  up  others  to  carry  on  the  work.  He  has 
boundless  reserves  of  grace  and  mercy  with  which  .to 
come  to  the  rescue  of  men's  failing  hearts,  and  con- 
scious weakness. 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  285 

It  has  sometimes  been  said  in  criticism  of  the  Chi- 
cago revival,  that  it  lacked  that  element  of  law  and 
conscience  for  which  the  earlier  revivals  in  our  coun- 
try had  been  remarkable.  "We  think  the  criticism 
without  foundation.  Some  of  the  most  pungent  con- 
victions of  sin,  some  of  the  intensest  awakenings  of 
conscience,  occurred  during  this  revival.  As  one 
among  the  many,  we  select  the  following  incident: 
A  young  man  of  pleasant  and  intelligent  address  was 
met  one  evening  in  an  inquiry  room  by  one  of  the 
ministers.  A  brief  conversation  made  it  manifest 
that  he  was  suffering  the  sharpest  conviction  of  sin. 
He  had  drifted  to  the  city  and  drifted  into  the  Taber- 
nacle with  the  faint  hope  that  in  some  way  or  other 
there  might  be  help  for  him  there.  Resting  under 
a  burden  that  seemed  to  crush  his  secret  out  of 
his  soul,  he  stated  that  he  was  a  criminal  flee- 
ing not,  indeed,  from  justice,  for  he  had  been 
declared  innocent  on  trial,  but  from  the  torturing- 
consciousness  of  his  own  guilt.  He  wanted  to  know 
what  he  should  do.  He  felt  there  was  hope  for  him 
neither  on  earth  nor  in  heaven.  He  could  neither 
carry  his  load  nor  shake  it  off.  He  had  even  medita- 
ted a  fearful  refuge  through  suicide.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  he  met,  by  appointment,  the  pastor  and  Mr. 
Moody  at  the  close  of  the  noon  prayer-meeting. 
These  Christian  friends  assured  him  there  was  but  one 
thing  to  do.  He  must  return,  surrender  himself  to 
justice,  and  accept  the  consequences.  "But,"  said 
Mr.  Moody,  "  you  cannot  go  alone.  You  need  an 
Almighty  Friend  to  go  with  you.  Give  your  heart 
to  Christ  and  he  will  take  your  burden  and  give  you 


286  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

strength  for  your  duty."  The  three  kneeled  together. 
After  prayer  by  Mr.  Moody  and  the  pastor,  Mr.  B. 
was  called  on  to  pray  for  himself.  That  prayer  was, 
indeed,  the  groaning  of  a  spirit.  It  seemed  to  rise 
out  of  the  depths  of  hell  and  fall  heavily,  almost  de- 
spairingly, against  the  throne.  He  prayed  for  pardon, 
he  prayed  for  strength  to  go  to  the  home  circle  and  tell 
the  dear  ones  there  at  once  of  his  guilt  and  his  peni- 
tence; he  prayed  that  the  blow  might  not  kill  his  aged 
father  and  mother,  he  prayed  for  strength  to  live  a 
new  life,  whether  in  prison  or  out  of  it.  He  rose' 
from  his  knees  as  one  from  whose  heart  a  mountain 
had  been  lifted,  and  said :  "  I'm  going  back  to  suffer 
what  human  law  demands,  but  Christ,  I  believe,  has 
taken  my  sins  away."  After  a  few  words  of  counsel  and 
encouragement,  and  assurances  of  prayers  for  him  that 
he  might  be  able  to  carry  his  cross,  he  went  away  to 
take  the  train  for  his  horns  and  the  scene  of  his  crime. 
A  few  hours  later,  at  the  opening  of  the  Tabernacle 
service,  a  telegram  was  handed  Mr.  Moody.  It  was 
from  Mr.  B.,  who  was  so  anxious  that  his  new  friends 
in  Chicago  should  know  of  his  happiness  in  his  sor- 
rowful journey,  that,  stepping  from  the  train  at  a 
way-station,  he  had  sent  back  these  words:  "  My 
heart  is  fixed.  The  Lord  has  told  me  just  what  to  do, 
I  never  was  so  happy  before."  Letters  came 
from  him  afterward,  telling  of  the  great  peace  that, 
like  a  river,  was  flowing  through  his  days.  Indeed, 
he  had  to  bring  anguish  upon  his  home  by  telling  the 
almost  incredible  story  of  his  sin ;  indeed,  he  had  to 
stand  in  court  and  plead  guilty  of  a  crime  of  which 
the  law  had   acquitted  him ;  indeed,  he  had   to  go  to 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  287 

the  penitentiary  and  bear  a  three-years  penalty,  but 
there  was  wonderful  illustration  of  the  sustaining 
grace  of  God  in  the  words  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Moody: 
"My  sentence  is  three  years  in  the  penitentiary,  but 
what  is  that  to  the  last  six  months?" 

We  must  bring  our  sketch  of  the  Chicago  meetings  to 
a  close.  Week  after  week  the  shout  of  harvest-home  was 
being  heard  throughout  the  churches  of  the  city.  No 
statistics  can  measure  the  extent  of  the  revival.  The 
new  faith  that  was  given  to  God's  people,  the  more 
direct  line  of  appeal  and  endeavor  it  gave  them,  the 
more  stress  it  gave  to  preaching  and  the  power  of 
song,  are  not  to  be  told  by  arithmetic.  The  farewell 
meeting  was  held  on  Tuesday  evening,  Jan.  16th.  In 
many  respects  it  was  the  most  notable  of  all  the  won- 
derful series. 

The  floor  was  filled  with  young  converts,  probably 
four  thousand  being  present.  Very  many  with  young 
convert's  tickets  were  turned  away,  because  the  great 
building  was  packed  to  its  utmost  capacity  long  before 
the  hour  for  opening  the  service  arrived.  It  was  a  sight 
to  thrill  the  heart  with  joy  unutterable.  On  the  plat- 
form crowded  close  around  Moody  and  Sankey,  were 
the  ministers  who  had  stood  so  firmly  by  them,  from 
the  first  meeting  to  the  last.  Farther  back  on  the 
platform  were  about  five  hundred  singers  whose  voices 
had  done  so  much  for  the  success  and  interest  of  the 
services.  And  in  every  available  corner,  passage  and 
stairway  around  the  platform  were  hundreds  of  prom- 
inent business  men,  and  active  Christian  workers. 
The  galleries  were  packed  with  Christian  people  who 
had  so  often  sung,  and  prayed,  and  labored,  and  re- 


288  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

joiced  in  that  building.  And  on  the  main  floor  were 
tliose  with  a  new  song  in  their  mouths.  There  were 
children,  young  men  and  maidens,  men  and  women  in 
life's  prime,  and  very  many  with  whitening  heads. 
They  represented  all  classes — the  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  ignorant  and  the  scholarly,  the  young  people  from 
the  midst  of  the  Sunday-school  and  the  Christian 
home,  and  reformed  men  who  had  been  the  slaves  of 
evil  passion,  had  drained  every  cup  of  vice,  and  were 
there  clothed  and  in  their  right  mind  at  last.  It  was 
a  sight  to  waken  new  hallelujahs  in  heaven. 

Mr.  Moody's  address  on  what  God  is  able  to  do  for 
those  who  trust  Him,  was  practical,  spiritual,  and 
deeply  earnest.  At  its  close,  he  addressed  words  of 
tenderest  Christian  love  to  those  who  had  been  his 
"helpers  in  the  Lord."  With  a  voice  well  broken  by 
emotion  he  thanked  the  pastors  who  in  such  unbroken 
ranks  had  been  around  him — the  choir,  the  ushers, 
the  workers  with  him  in  the  inquiry  rooms,  and  the 
reporters  who  had  given  such  careful  and  kind  report 
of  all  the  meetings.  In  his  closing  prayer  he  remem- 
bered all  these  classes,  and  commended  the  young 
converts  to  the  care  of  the  Chief  Shepherd  in  words 
and  tones  which  will  hardly  be  forgotten.  His  part- 
ing words  were  "Good  night;  we  shall  meet  in  the 
morning."  While  the  great  audience  sang  "  Praise 
God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow,"  the  evangelists 
suddenly  left  the  platform  through  a  trap-door,  much 
to  the  surprise  of  the  hundreds  who  were  hoping  to 
have  one  more  hand-shake  and  a  parting  word. 
When,  the  next  day,  we  remarked  to  Mr.  Moody  the 
disappointment    their  sudden  exit  had  caused,  he  re- 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  289 

plied   with  great  feeling,    "  We  couldn't  have  gone 
through  that — it  was  too  much." 

Mr.  Moody's  work  in  Chicago  Avill  be  memorable 
in  all  time  as  a  reversal  of  the  historic  proverb.  The 
prophet  had  a  hearing  and  honor  in  his  own  country. 
His  own  received  him,  followed  him,  and  by  him 
were  led  to  a  great  victory.  How  shall  we  explain 
it?  Success  in  every  work  has  elements  so  hidden  as 
to  give  meaning  to  the  suggestive  truism:  "  Success 
is  the  most  successful  thing  in  the  world."  Yet 
though  hidden,  the  elements  are  there.  There  are  no 
miracles  in  life's  work.  Visible,  or  invisible,  some- 
where there  is  a  reason  for  every  achievement.  We 
ask  again  the  question  so  often  asked,  so  difficult  of 
answer:  Why  has  Mr.  Moody  been  able  to  do  this 
work,  imeqiialed  at  least  in  modern  times?  Is  he  a 
great  preacher?  Yes,  measured  by  highest  standards, 
he  is  a  great  preacher,  but  there  have  been,  and  are 
others,  greater  in  all  measurable  elements  of  power, 
men  richer  in  scholarship,  argument,  illustration  and 
address.  Is  he  a  man  of  great  earnestness,  deep  piety 
and  single  purpose?  Undoubtedly  yes;  but  there 
have  been  others  as  profoundly  in  earnest,  as  fervent 
in  spirit,  as  devoted  to  their  work.  Is  lie  exception- 
ally large  in  his  soul,  broad  in  his  sympathies,  intense 
and  generous  in  his  affections?  To  be  near  him,  is  to 
feel  the  magnetism  of  a  great  heart.  Yet  there  have 
been,  and  are  others,  who  love  their  fellows  with  a  sim- 
ilar princeliness  of  love,  and  who  in  their  devotion  to 
souls  do  gladly  die  for  them.  Is  he  a  great  organizer 
and  leader  of  men?  Yes;  a  thousand  times  yes. 
There  are  few  such  captains.      In  any  sphere  of  sol- 


290  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

diery  he  would  have  been  a  leader.  He  was  born  to 
command.  Prominent  as  is  this  factor  in  his  success, 
and  rarely  as  others  have  equaled  him  in  this,  it 
would  hardly  be  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem 
of  his  success  to  attribute  it  to  his  generalship  alone. 
Upon  no  one  trait  of  his  mind,  or  grace  of  his  heart 
can  exc'usive  stress  be  laid.  ~No  one  of  them  accounts 
for  Mr.  Moody.  Therefore  those  who  apply  to  his 
work  the  yard-measure  of  some  pet  theory  of  his  abil- 
ity, must  constantly  fail.  Mr.  Moody  is  that  happy, 
that  unexplained,  that  divine  combination  of  many 
factors  of  success,  no  one  of  which  solves  the  problem. 
It  is  not  his  eloquence,  nor  his  judgment,  nor  his 
piety,  nor  his  skill,  nor  his  soul  on  fire.  Rather  it  is 
them  altogether,  in  peculiar  relations  and  terms,  in  a 
blending,  the  lines,  boundaries,  or  proportions  of 
which  our  philosophy  strives  in  vain  to  fathom,  but 
the  tout  ensemble  of  which,  in  God's  great  method, 
has  resulted  in  the  most  successful  evangelist  at  least 
of  later  times.  There  is  just  one  arrangement  of  let- 
ters that  spells  out  the  cabalistic  word  that  springs 
open  the  iron  door  of  the  bank  vault.  There  is  only 
one  combination  of  faculties  and  powers  that  spells 
out  the  Sesame  of  highest  success.  Call  it  genius,  or 
what  you  will,  this  it  is  that  makes  Mr.  Moody.  If 
his  work  baffles  our  criticism,  let  us  accept  the  fact 
with  the  mystery,  and  say:  God,  who  made  the  locks 
and  bolts  that  bound  ordinary  endeavor,  can  also,  and 
once  in  a  few  centuries  does,  in  some  human  soul, 
throw  together  the  charmed  letters  that  slip  the  bolts, 
and  give  power  of  progress  and  victory,  which  is  as 
rare  as  it  is  divine. 


MOODY   IN   CHICAGO.  291 

But  high  above  every  explanation,  the  ultimate 
reason  of  all  success  in  winning  souls  to  Christ,  is 
the  presence  and  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Per- 
haps we  shall  come  nearest  to  understanding  Mr. 
Moody  in  his  relation  to  his  work  if,  abandoning  all 
human  words,  we  are  content  to  say,  in  the  words  an 
inspired  writer  applied  to  Stephen:  "A  man  full 
of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 


OHAPTEE  XIII. 

MOODY  AND  SANKEY  IN  BOSTON. 

We  come  to  speak  now  of  what,  to  thoughtful, 
minds,  must  be  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  all  the 
revival  campaigns.  After  a  rest  of  only  a  week  the 
Evangelists,  whose  physical  endurance  and  resources 
are  as  wonderful  as  their  mental  and  spiritual,  began 
their  work  in  Boston.  That  work  was  anxiously  re- 
garded by  the  Christian  people  throughout  the  coun- 
try. It  seemed  as  if  the  preaching  and  singing  of 
these  plain  men  would  meet  with  a  new,  and  perhaps 
a  disastrous  test  in  that  center  of  culture  and  various 
philosophical  and  religious  isms.  The  Evangelists, 
however,  seem  to  have  made  no  new  calculations  of 
probabilities.  They  went  to  this  work  just  as  they 
had  gone  to  every  other,  with  simple,  unquestioning 
faith  in  God.  Anxious  only  for  the  smooth  pebble 
from  the  brook,  they  seemed  to  have  spent  little  time 
in  measuring  Goliath.  At  the  farewell  meeting  in 
Chicago,  Mr.  Moody  said:  "  As  we  leave  you,  there 
is  just  one  boon  we  covet,  and  that  is  your  prayers." 
Relying  on  prayer-  and  the  truth,  they  began  their 
services  in  Boston  January  28th,  1877. 

Extensive  preparations  had  been  made  for  their 
coming.  The  Tabernacle,  built  on  Tremont  street, 
though  the  smallest  that  had  been  built  for  them,  was 

aw 


MOODY   IN   BOSTON,  293 

a  substantial  brick  structure,  convenient  in  its  ar- 
rangements, and  capable  of  seating  six  thousand  peo- 
ple. Of  course,  it  was  packed  at  the  first  meeting. 
Curiosity  was  on  tip- toe  to  hear  Mr.  Moody's  intro- 
ductory sermon.  It  was  an  address  to  Christians. 
He  denied  that  Boston  had  any  peculiarity  in  a  relig- 
ious point  of  view  that  required  any  different  mode 
of  procedure  there  than  had  elsewhere  been  adopted. 
Boston  sinners  had,  he  declared,  the  same  old  nature 
that  all  sinners  have.  He  affirmed:  "God  could 
shake  Boston  as  easily  as  a  mother  shakes  her  child." 
Then  touching  the  skepticism  of  that  city,  he  ap- 
proached it  not  with  kid  gloves  of  dainty  acknowl- 
edgements, not  with  any  consciousness  of  its  claims  or 
any  words  apologetic  for  daring  to  confront  it;  he  men- 
tioned it  only  to  say  infidelity  in  Boston  was  no  ob- 
stacle to  God.  In  the  very  midst  of  their  pride  and 
their  philosophy,  he  planted  the  doctrine  of  depravity 
common  to  all,  and  the  power  of  God  sufficient  to 
all. 

The  skepticism  of  that  city  of  learning  and  culture 
is  met  in  a  novel  way.  Arguments  they  have 
been  accustomed  to — and  patronizingly  wait  for  them 
— deference  they  are  used  to,  and  treat  it  with  freezing 
politeness — but  to  be  thus  bluntly  confronted  with 
God,  and  to  have  his  presence  end  the  controversy,  to 
be  set  down  among  common  sinners,  and  to  be  told 
that  their  only  hope  was  in  a  cry  for  mercy,  was  a 
measure  of  audacity  for  which  philosophy  had  no 
reply. 

This  address,  delivered  with  great  earnestness, 
produced    a     decided     effect     on     the     audience. 


294  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

Some,  with  not  brains  enough  to  sec  past  the  gram- 
mar or  the  rhetoric,  criticised  these;  but  others, 
touched  by  the  pathos  of  Mr.  San  key's  songs  and  the 
lofty  courage  of  Mr.  Moody's  address,  said:  "  This  is 
none  other  than  the  power  of  God."  It  was,  in- 
deed, an  occasion  memorable  beyond  Boston,  memo- 
rable for  future  ages.  It  was  the  gospel  going  oul  bo 
battle  the  wisdom  of  this  age. 

Since  the  day  when  an  obscure  man  stood  on  Mars' 
Hill,  waiting  till  the  clamor  of  "What  will  this 
babbler  say,"  had  subsided,  and  then  to  Stoical  doubt- 
ers on  one  side,  who  were  too  proud  to  deny  any- 
thing, and  to  the  Epicurean  atheists,  on  the  other,  too 
proud  to  believe  anything,  preached  Jesus  and  the 
resurrection,  we  think  of  no  finer  picture  of  the  con- 
trasts of  faith  and  doubt  than  Boston  then  presented. 
In  theeveninghe  gave  his  sermon  on  Christian  courage 
to  an  overflowing  audience.  In  the  course  of  it  he 
told  the  story  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  great  Scottish 
missionary,  Dr.  Duff.  The  effect  was  electric.  He 
said: 

"  When  I  was  going  to  Europe  in  1867,  my  friend 
Mr.  Stuart,  of  Philadelphia,  said:  'Be  sure  to  be  at 
the  General  Assembly  in  Edinburgh,  in  June.  I 
was  there  last  year,  and  it  did  me  a  world  of 
good.'  He  said  Dr.  Duff,  from  India,  was  invit- 
ed to  speak  to  the  General  Assembly,  on  the  wants  of 
India.  The  old  missionary,  after  a  brief  address,  told 
the  pastors  who  were  present,  to  go  home  and  stir  up 
their  churches  and  send  young  men  to  India  to  preach 
the  gospel.  He  spoke  with  such  earnestness  that  af- 
ter a  while  he  fainted,  and  they  carried  him  from   the 


moody  m  BOSTON.  295 

hall.  When  he  recovered  he  asked  where  he 
was,  and  tliey  told  him  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  had  been  brought  there.  '  Yes,'  he  said,  *  I 
was  making  a  plea  for  India,  and  I  didn't  quite  fin- 
ish my  speech,  did  IV  After  being  told  that  he  did 
not,  he  said:  "  Well,  take  me  back  and  let  me  finish 
it.'  But  they  said,  'No,  you  will  die  in  the  attempt.' 
'Well,'  said  he,  'I  will  die  if  I  don't,'  and  the  old  man 
asked  again  that  the)  would  allow  him  to  finish  his 
plea.  When  he  was  taken  back  the  whole  congrega- 
tion stood  as  one  man,  and  as  they  brought  him  on  the 
platform,  with  a  trembling  voice,  he  said:  'Fathers 
and  mothers  of  Scotland,  is  it  true  that  you  will  not 
let  your  sons  go  to  India?  I  spent  twenty-five  years 
of  my  life  there.  I  lost  my  health,  and  I  have  come 
back  with  sickness  and  shattered  health.  If  it  is  true 
that  we  have  no  strong  grandsons  to  go  to  India,  I  will 
pack  up  what  I  have  and  be  off  to-morrow,  and  I  will 
let  those  heathens  know  that  if  I  cannot  live  for  them 
1  will  die  for  them.'' 

The  first  noon  prayer-meeting  was  held  the  next 
day  in  the  Park  Street  Church,  and  was  a  promising 
beginning  of  a  series,  which  still  continues,  and  has 
been  the  scene  of  hundreds  of  conversions.  On  the 
evening  of  that  day,  in  the  prayer-meeting  held  after 
the  close  of  the  regular  services,  Mr.  Moody  said: 
"  We  are  here  to-night  to  pray  for  one  another.  Re- 
member me  in  your  prayers.  I  do  not  understand  it, 
but  I  have  many  imes  felt  when  I  have  gone  from 
one  place  to  another,  and  tried  to  do  the  work  with 
the  grace  that  God  has  given  me  to  work  in  an- 
other   place,   it   seems  to    me    that   every  time    we 


296  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

change  we  need  a  fresh  baptism,  a  fresh  power,  a 
fresh  supply  of  e^race;  and,  now  we  have  come  to  Bos- 
ton, we  would  like  to  have  you  pray  for  us,  that  God 
may  bless  us  with  his  Spirit,  and  Christ  may  enter 
all  our  prayers  and  be  a  power  in  us  to  preach  the 
simple  gospel.  And  now,  if  there  are  any  friends  to 
pray  for  us  and  to  be  prayed  for,  would  you  just 
rise?" 

As  many  as  three  thousand  people  rose,  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Pentecost  made  a  fervent  prayer. 

After  the  first  week  the  Evangelists  rapidly  grew 
on  the  Boston  people.  Criticism  poured  in  on  them 
from  every  side.  Scoffers  were  abundant,  but  the.r 
manhood,  their  utter  freedom  from  shams,  their  sin- 
gleness of  purpose,  which  made  them  indifferent  to 
what  people  said  about  them,  so  only  lost  souls  might 
be  saved,  conquered  the  criticism  and  silenced  the 
scoffs.  Mr.  Moody's  power  in  prayer  was  nevermore 
conspicuous  than  during  those  days.  A  correspon- 
dent says:  "He  comes  at  once  'to  the  grips'  with 
God.  'Ask  for  something  when  you  pra}T,'  he  said 
one  day.  '  A  Scotch  woman  heard  a  minister  make  a 
long  and  voluble  prayer.  When  he  was  about  to 
close,  she  could  stand  it  no  longer,  and  cried  out: 
"  Ash  for  something."  :  His  comments  on  the  '  Ask,' 
k  Seek,'  '  Knock,'  in  Luke,  were  novel.  k  If  you 
don't  get  a  blessing  by  asking,  seek  the  reason 
why.  It  is  in  yourself.  If  you  don't  get  it  by  seek- 
ing, knock.'  He  took  out  a  letter,  which  he  said  he 
had  just  received,  and  read  it.  It  was  from  a  reformed 
man.  For  years  his  mother  and  sister  had  prayed  for 
liiin.     His  mother  died.     His  sister  kept  on  praying. 


MOODY    IN    BOSTON.  297 

For  eighteen  years  she  never  failed  a  single  day. 
'  That  is  what  I  call  knocking! '  said  Mr.  Moody,  the 
tears  almost  choking  him.  i  Now  hear  the  rest.  Last 
November  this  brother  found  himself  in  Chicago,  and 
was  reclaimed  at  the  Tabernacle.  What  if  his  sister 
hadn't  knocked?" ' 

"Writing  about  this  time,  a  leading  journalist  said: 
"  Evangelical  religion  never  presented  a  bolder  front. 
There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  as  to  the  doctrines  held 
by  the  revivalist.  He  is  an  out-and-out  believer  in 
the  ruined  state  of  man,  in  the  substitution  of  the 
blood  of  Christ  for  broken  law,  and  in  pardon  gained 
through  faith  in  him.  He  believes  in  the  Trinity,  the 
personality  of  the  Devil,  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
the  salvation  of  those  believing  in  him,  and  the  ever- 
lasting punishment  of  those  rejecting  him.  He  also 
holds  that  conversion  is  inbtantaneous,  and  that  good 
works  follow  as  a  consequence." 

These  cardinal  doctrines  in  terse,  epigrammatic  form, 
vividly  illustrated  and  driven  home  with  tremendous 
earnestness,  Mr.  Moody  preached  in  Boston  week  after 
week,  and  month  after  month,  and  had  the  pleasure 
of  witnessing  there,  as  elsewhere,  the  wisdom  and 
power  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  souls.  The  inquiry 
rooms  in  the  Tabernacle  being  found  insufficient  for 
their  purpose,  the  inquiry  meetings  were  held  in  neigh- 
boring churches.  They  were  from  the  first  well  at- 
tended, were  efficiently  manned  by  ministers  and  other 
Christian  workers,  and  resulted  in  a  constantly  in- 
creasing number  of  conversions.  Such  ministers  as 
Drs.  Webb,  Manning,  Phillips  Brooks,  Withrow, 
Dunn.  Pentecost,  Meredith,  and  others,  stood   solidly 


298  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

around  the  evangelists,  and  gave  tliem  efficient  aid  in 
prayer  and  inquiry  meetings. 

Mr.  Moody  also  Lad  powerful  aid  of  a  kind  lie  had 
not  elsewhere  had,  which  in  no  other  city  was  so 
much  needed.  The  Rev.  Joseph  Cook  lectured  each 
Monday  at  noon  in  Tremont  Temple  to  an  audience 
of  three  thousand  of  the  most  intelligent  people  of 
Boston.  He  treated  upon  the  most  intellectual  themes 
in  the  mo>t  intellectual  and  brilliant  manner.  He 
assaulted  rationalism  amid  its  very  intrenchments. 
He  gave  to  Mr.  Moody  not  only  the  indirect  support, 
which  a  philosophical  discussion  of  evangelical  relig- 
ion on  such  a  lofty  plain  and  by  such  masterly  meth- 
ods could  not  fail  to  give;  he  also  stood  by  him  in  his 
evangelistic  work,  giving  him  the  cordial  support  of 
his  words  and  his  work.  Prefacing  one  of  his  lectures 
with  some  remarks  upon  the  revival,  he  said: 

"Let  us  admit  that  we  could  all  wish  for  greater 
blessings.  Macaulay  said  concerning  literary  excel- 
lence that  we  were  to  measure  success  not  by  absolute, 
but  by  relative  standards.  Matching  his  own  historv 
against  the  seventh  book  of  Thucydides,  he  was 
always  humble;  but  matching  his  history  against  cur- 
rent productions,  Macaulay  felt  encouraged.  Match- 
ing this  day  in  Boston  against  some  things  in  "White- 
field's  day;  matching  it  against  the  dateless  noon  of 
Pentecost:  matching  it  against  our  opportunities,  we 
are  humble;  we  have  no  reason  for  elation;  ours  is  a 
day  of  small  things.  But  compare  what  has  been 
•lone  here  by  God's  Word  and  religious  effort  with 
all  that  has  been  done  since  Boston  was  founded  by 
the  opponents  of  God's  Word,  and  we  are  encouraged. 


MOODY   IN    BOSTON.  299 

"  Our  opportunity  in  the  second  New  England  is 
greater  than  that  of  our  fathers  was  in  the  first  New 
England.  Let  us  act  as  the  memory  of  our  fathers 
dictates.  New  England,  the  Mississippi  Valley,  the 
Pacific  Coast,  Scotland,  England,  always  know  whether 
or  not  Boston  does  her  duty.  A  power  not  of  man  is 
in  this  hushed  air.  Who  will  lock  hands  with  him 
whom  we  dare  not  name  and  go  forward  to  triumph 
in  the  cause  that  cares  equally  for  the  rich  and  poor 
and  for  to-day  and  to-morrow?" 

During  the  later  part  of  March  the  meetings,  for  a 
few  weeks  seemed  to  drop  to  a  level  which  was  trying 
to  the  leaders  and  discouraging  to  the  church.  \ 
variety  of  reasons  conduced  to  this  temporary  slacken- 
ing of  interest.  Ijt  was  the  natural  movement  of  the 
tide.  The  intensity  of  the  first  enthusiasm  reached  a 
point,  where  by  a  necessary  law,  it  had  to  relax  a  lit- 
tle.    The  edire  of  outside  curiosity  was  blunted:   tlip 

CD  *> 

novelty  of  the  exercises  and  methods  no  longer  at- 
tracted. 

This  lull  in  the  interest — superficial  though  it  was 
— aroused  and  encouraged  the  hostile  element  of  Bos- 
ton. Unitarian  criticisms  began  to  pour  in.  Some 
of  the  lesser  lights  especially,  as  in  Chicago,  sought, 
to  lift  themselves  into  temporary  notice  by  diatribes 
against  the  men  and  the  doctrines.  The  meetings 
in  the  Tabernacle  seemed  falling  off.  and  everybody 
but  Mr.  Moody  felt  the  shadow  of  discouragement. 

Then  the  Evangelist  rose  to  his  height;  he  told  the 
people  of  Boston  if  they  would  not  come  to  the  Tab- 
ernacle, he  would  go  to  their  houses  and  warn  them  to 
flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.     He  called  the  minister 


300  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

around  him,  and  inspired  them  with  his  own  courage 
and  faith  in  God,  blocked  out  new  plans,  and  went  on 
as  if  in  the  very  flush  of  victory.  It  was  Wellington 
again,  turning  the  tide  of  Waterloo,  and  in  a  far  nobler 
cause.  He  moved  the  noon  meeting  from  the  Taber- 
nacle to  halls  and  churches  in  different  parts  of  the 
city.  He  organized  meetings  for  the  different  classes, 
and  thus  laid  his  hand  upon  the  pulse  of  every  kind 
of  activity  in  Boston.  The  holy  Ghost  seemed  to  de- 
scend in  a  fresh  baptism,  the  churches  were  inspired 
with  new  courage,  and  the  work  from  that  time  went 
gloriously  forward. 

In  the  last  weeks  of  March  arrangements  were  made 
for  the  systematic  visitation  of  the  whole  city,  which 
was    divided   into   a     hundred    districts,  to  each  of 
which  a  chosen  committee  was  appointed.      No  less 
than  two  thousand  persons  were  engaged  in  this  work, 
devoting  a  greater  part  of  their  time  to  visitation  of 
the  poor  and  degraded.     Ninety  churches  co-operated 
in  this  work,  each  pastor  appointing  a  committee  to 
oversee  the  work  undertaken  by  his  particular  church. 
Thus  it  is  safe  to  say  within  a  few  weeks  nearly  all  ol 
the  seventy  thousand  families  of  Boston  were  visited 
by  men  and  women  whose  hearts  God  had  touched 
with  the  desire  to  lift  up  the  fallen  and  to  save  the  un- 
saved.    No  wonder  the  city  was  moved  from  center 
to  circumference.     No  wonder  Joseph  Cook  could  say 
of  him  who  planned  this  work:     "  If  there    is  one 
measure  in  which  our  American  evangelist  has  shown 
his  generalship,  it  is  in  setting  men  to  work,  and  in 
so  setting  them  to  work  as  to  set  them  on  fire."     The 
work  now  began  to  reach  beyond  Boston.    At  Portland, 


MOODY   IN   BOSTON,  301 

Portsmouth,  Newburyport,  Bangor,  Haverhill,  Salem, 
and  Worcester  .the  effect  of  the  business  men's  meetings 
in  Boston,  and  the  general  religious  movement  were 
noticeable. 

In  many  of  these  places  evangelistic  services  were 
held,  and  converts  were  numbered  by  the  hundred. 

Noon  prayer-meetings  were  also  organized  in  South 
Boston,   East    Boston,    Chelsea,    Boston   Highlands. 
Charlestown  and  other  suburbs,  under  the  conduct  of 
different  clergymen.     The  market-men's  prayer-meet- 
ing, held  in  a  hall  over  the  market  in  the  North  End, 
presented  each  day  at  the  noon  hour  a  scene  of  re- 
markable interest.     Hundreds  of  men,  in  their  mark- 
et dress,  gathered  there  each  day,  earnest  and  resolute 
in  their  pursuit  of  salvation.     At  the  corner  of  Sum- 
mer and  Kingston  streets,  prayer-meetings  were  held 
in  the  interest  of  the  dry-goods  and  clothing  trades. 
The  room  seating  four  or  five  hundred  people,  often 
tailed  to  accommodate  half  of  those  seeking  admit- 
tance.    Business  men  not  only  attended  themselves, 
but  took  their  clerks  with  them,  and  many  of  both 
classes  daily  found  the  Savior.      Meetings  for  hack- 
men,  grocers,  fishermen,  furniture   dealers,  and  those 
of   other    trades,    were    sustained     at    a   very    high 
point  both  in  numbers  and  interest.     A  correspond- 
ent of  a  leading  journal  says :    "  A  leading  firm  oi 
two  well  known   merchants  were  present  at   one   ol 
these  meetings  a  few  days  since.     Both  went  into  the 
inquiry-room,  though  prominently  connected  with  a 
religious  society  wThose  minister  had  given  them  any- 
thing but  a  knowledge  of  our  faith  in  a  vicarious  atone- 
ment, both  found  Christ  as  their  Savior,  on  the  cross 


302  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

as  well  as  by  His  life.  The  one  who  first  accepted  the 
truth,  and  on  his  knees  gave  himself  to  his  Lord,  find- 
ing light  and  peace  almost  in  a  moment,  rose  from 
his  knees,  and  exclaimed  to  his  partner:  *  I  am 
converted,  Joshua.'  It  was  only  the  work  of  a  few 
moments  for  his  partner  to  take  the  same  Lord 
and  Redeemer  and  find  the  same  peace  and  joy. 
Stout  market-men,  in  their  white  frocks,  crowd 
their  places  of  meeting  to  overflow.  I  heard  of  a 
conversion  in  a  place  of  business  belonging  to  one  of 
them.  A  friend  had  called  on  business.  The  claims  and 
privileges  of  religion  were  urged  by  that  friend  for 
some  time  without   avail.     At   last  the  reply  came: 

*  I  will  seek  the  Lord.     I  will  pray  when  I  go  home.' 

*  Don't  wait  for  that,'  said  the  friend,  '  let  us  pray 
here.'  So  kneeling  in  the  cellar,  by  a  tank  of  meats, 
the  prayer  of  self-surrender  and  consecration  was 
made  on  the  spot." 

So  from  week  to  week  the  work  went  on  widening 
and  deepening.  Christian  people  were  drawn  into 
closer  sympathy  with  the  Evangelists  every  day;  the 
outside  strictures  ceased.  At  a  great  prayer-meeting 
one  day  at  which  two  or  three  thousand  business  men 
were  present  to  declare  their  interest  in  the  blood  of 
Christ,  Mr.  Moody  made  the  following  remark: 

"  I  have  been  a  professing  Christian  twenty-two 
years,  and  I  have  been  in  Boston  and  other  cities  most 
of  that  time,  but  I  never  saw  such  a  day  as  this.  I 
stand  in  wonder  and  amazement  at  what  is  being 
done.  It  seems  as  if  God  were  taking  this  work  out 
of  our  hands.  Prayer-meetings  are  springing  up  in 
all   parts  of  the  city.     If  you   had   been   asked  two 


MOODY   IN    BOSTON.  303 

months  ago  if  these  things  were  possible,  you  would 
have  said:  '  Yes,  if  God  will  open  windows  in  heaven 
and  do  them.' " 

Cheered  by  the  evidence  of  such  approval  of  the 
people,  Mr.  Moody  issued  an  address  to  the  churches 
of  New  England.  It  was  a-  general  marching  order, 
and  called  upon  every  church  in  sympathy  with  the 
Tabernacle  meetings  to  organize  prayer  and  evangel- 
istic services,  to  be  held  as  often  as  thought  best,  and 
to  continue  for  two  weeks,  commencing  with  a  special 
service,  Sunday,  April  8th,  and  that  Thursday,  the 
12th,  be  observed  by  all  the  churches  as  a  day  of  fast- 
ing and  prayer.  These  days  of  special  service  and 
prayer  were  largely  observed  throughout  New  Eng- 
land and  among  the  hills  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire, 
and  Vermont,  on  the  banks  of  the  Androscoggin  and 
Connecticut;  and  in  scores  of  towns  and  country  dis- 
tricts, evangelistic  services  were  held  and  inquiry- 
rooms  opened.  The  feeling  everywhere  seemed  gen- 
eral that  New  England  was  to  have  such  a  day  of  mer- 
ciful visitation  as  it  had  not  since  1740,  if  even 
then.  Though  the  spring  and  summer  time  were 
approaching,  they  were  looked  forward  to  not  as  in- 
terfering with  or  putting  a  stop  to  the  work,  but  ra- 
ther as  affording  a  breathing  spell  of  needed  rest,  and 
a  time  in  which  broader  plans  might  be  matured  for 
a  still  grander  campaign  in  the  autumn  of  1877.  As 
during  the  latter  part  of  April  the  meetings  at  Bos- 
ton drew  toward  a  close,  the  feeling  that  a  strategic 
point  had  just  been  gained,  and  that  a  wider  move- 
ment must  follow,  took  strong  possession  of  the  peo- 
ple's minds,  and  before  the  first  series  of  services  had 


304  TIMES   OF   BEFRESHING. 

closed,  they  were  already  talking  of  a  second  series  in 
the  fall. 

As  the  time  approached  for  the  Evangelists  to  leave 
Boston,  the   interest  in  their  work  seemed  steadily  to 
increase.     The  last  week  of  the  revival  service  proper 
began  on  Sunday,  April  22d.     At  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  despite  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  the 
vast  auditorium  was  packed,  and  crowds  were  turned 
away  from  the  various  entrances.      Mr.  Sankey  sang- 
with  great  effect :  "What  hast  thou  given  for  Me  ?"  and 
"  Nothing  but  Leaves."     Mr.  Moody  preached  on  the 
life  of  Christ  with  his  usual  enthusiasm  and  force, 
closing   finely  as   follows:      "John   and   Jesus  were 
like  the  sun  and  moon  in  comparison  with  the  stars. 
All  the  prophets  were  like  the  stars   in  comparison 
with   those  two    men.      There  was  no  prophet  like 
John.      None  born  of  women  was    greater.      Moses 
was  a  mighty  prophet.     Elijah  was  the  sun  of  thun- 
der and  a  great  and  mighty  prophet,  and   so  was  Eli- 
sha.     But  they  were  not  to  be  compared  with  John. 
What  a  character!     He  lost  sight  of  himself  entirely. 
Christ  was  the  uppermost;  Christ  was  the  all-in-all 
with  him.     He  was  beheaded  outside  of  the  promised 
land.     He  was  buried  in  Moab  somewhere  near  where 
Moses  was  buried.     The  first  and  last  prophet  of  that, 
nation  were  buried  near  together,and  there  they  lie  out- 
side of  the  promised  land;  but  their  bodies  by  and  by 
will  be  resurrected,  and  they  will  be  the  most  grand, 
the  most  glorious,  in  God's  Kingdom.     Oh,  that  God 
would  give  us  the  spirit  of  John  that  we  might  exalt 
God,  forget  ourselves  and  cry  out:    "  Christ  is  every- 
thing " 


MOODY    IS    BOSTOIT.  305 

At  the  women's  meeting  in  the  afternoon  an  unex- 
ampled crowd  besieged  the  doors  of  the  Tabernacle, 
and  long  before  three  o'clock  the  doors  were  closed 
upon  the  numbers  who  found  themselves  too  late. 
Dr.  Tourjee  led  the  usual  praise  meeting,  and  exactly 
at  the  appointed  hour  Mr.  Moody  came  to  the  front 
of  the  platform,  and  said:  "  Sing,  '  Come  ye  Discon- 
solate." John  Wanamaker  made  the  opening  prayer, 
and  after  the  singing  of  the  hymn,  "Are  your  win- 
dows open  toward  Jerusalem?"  by  Mr.  Sankey,  Mr. 
Moody  preached  his  sermon  on  "  salvation,"  beginning 
by  saying  that  it  would  be  his  purpose  to  tell  every 
woman  in  the  assembly  how  she  might  be  saved  be- 
fore the  meeting  closed.  He  then  pressed  upon  them 
the  duty  of  an  instant  repentance,  the  privilege  of  an 
immediate  pardon.  In  the  evening  he  preached  sub- 
stantially the  same  sermon  to  an  immense  concourse 
of  men.  This  was  one  of  the  most  effective  days  of 
all  the  revival  series,  and  many,  doubtless,  will  look 
back  to  it  as  the  day  of  their  spiritual  birth. 

Monday,  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  of  the  revival 
meetings  was  held  at  noon  in  Faneuil  Hall.  It  was  a 
market-men's  meeting.  Butchers,  teamsters,  market- 
men  from  the  neighboring  markets,  stood  in  their 
white  frocks  in  the  main  floor  of  the  hall.  The  £al- 
lery  was  crowded  with  business  men.  It  was  thor- 
oughly inspiring  to  see  that  throng  of  earnest  faces, 
to  notice  the  heartiness  with  which  they  sang  the  re- 
vival hymns,  "  What  a  Friend  we  have  in  Jesus," 
"  Hold'the  Fort,"  and  "  Hallelujah  'tis  done."  Mr. 
Moody  evinced  his  usual  tact  in  securing  the  atten- 
tion of  his  audience  in  the  opening  sentences.      He 


306  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

began  as  follows:  "The  first  time  that  I  ever  came 
into  this  hall  was  about  twenty-one  or  twenty-two 
years  ago  this  spring,  I  think,  or  it  might  have  been 
the  month  of  June.  Anthony  Burns  was  then  in  the 
Court  House,  and  there  were  a  great  many  Bostoni- 
ans  going  to  try  to  set  him  free.  I  remember  after 
Wendell  Phillips  had  spoken,  and  quite  a  number  of 
others  had  spoken  on  this  platform,  and  when  the 
meeting  was  just  at  white  heat,  General  Swift,  who 
spoke  at  Tremont  Temple  the  other  day,  was  up  in 
the  gallery,  and  he  said  he  understood  the  people' 
were  already  breaking  into  the  Court  House  and  tak- 
ing out  Anthony  Burns.  I  went  out  of  this  hall  as 
quick  as  I  ever  left  a  meeting,  and  there  was  a  great 
crowd  round  the  Court  House,  but  all  of  us  could  not 
liberate  that  poor  captive.  But,  thank  God,  the  Gos- 
pel can  set  hundreds  free  to-day.  We  haven't  got  to 
go  out  of  this  hall  and  to  go  up  to  the  Court  House, 
but  in  this  old  hall  men  who  have  been  loaded  down 
with  sin,  and  who  have  been  slaves  to  sin  for  twenty, 
thirty  and  forty  years,  can  be  set  free  this  very  hour 
if  they  want  freedom;  and  I  don't  know  any  better 
place  than  this  hall,  that  is  called  the  "  Cradle  of  Lib- 
erty," for  the  captives  to  be  set  free,  and  I  hope  eve- 
ry Christian  in  this  house  will  be  lifting  up  their 
hearts  to  God  in  prayer  that  there  may  be  hundreds  of 
them  set  free  to-day.  That  is  what  we  have  come  for. 
We  have  not  come  here  just  to  have  a  meeting  in  Fan- 
euil  Hall,  but  to  proclaim  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Je- 
sus Christ,  and  tell  men  how  they  can  be  free.  I 
want  to  draw  your  attention  to  a  few  verses  in  the  six- 
teenth chapter  of  John,  illustrating  that  salvation  is 


MOODY    IN    BOSTON.  307 

by  faith  alone.  People  say,  I  don't  believe  you 
can  be  saved  that  easy;  I  believe  we  have  got  to 
work  a  little  for  salvation.  Faith  and  works  I  believe 
in.  So  do  I,  but  I  don't  believe  a  man  is  going  to  work 
out  his  salvation.  Suppose  for  a  moment  that  this 
platform  is  the  wreck  of  a  sinking  ship.  The  vessel 
has  sprung  a-leak  and  is  going  to  the  bottom.  The 
captain  says:  'Jump  into  the  life-boat!  The  vessel's 
going  down!'  But  I  think  I  can  keep  the  vessel 
afloat  by  pumping;  and  so  I  keep  pumping, 
pumping;  and  I  say  to  the  captain:  <  Don't  be- 
lieve the  vessel's  going  down.'  Now  that  would 
be  working  out  my  salvation;  and  all  the  time  the 
vessel  would  be  sinking.  But  Mr.  Sankey  won't 
stay  on  the  wreck.  He  just  leaps  into  the  life-boat 
and  takes  an  oar  and  pulls  with  a  will  for  the  shore. 
That's  working  ont  your  salvation  after  you're  saved. 
Now  isn't  there  some  one  here  to-day  who  will  just 
step  into  the  life-boat  and  be  saved?  I  want  Mr. 
Sankey  to  sing  '  Pull  for  the  Shore,'  and  may  every 
man  join  in  the  chorus."  Mr.  Sankey  then  sang 
"  Pull  for  the  Shore,"  and  the  audience  joined  in  the 
refrain  until  the  historic  walls  of  Faneuil  Hall  rans" 
again. 

The  women's  meeting  at  Park-street  Church  at 
noon  was  also  largely  attended.  Miss  Frances  E. 
Willard  had  for  several  weeks  been  conducting  these 
meetings,  and  they  had  been  greatly  blessed  to  many 
hearts. 

The  Monday  evening  audience  at  the  Tabernacle 
was  larger  than  usual,  having  been  drawn  together 
doubtless  by  the  announcement  that  John  L,  Swift, 


308  TIMES   OF   REFKE9IIING. 

an  influential  citizen  of  Boston,  and  a  recent  convert 
would  address  the  meeting.  He  began  by  saying  that 
he  came  to  the  building  three  weeks  ago  without  the 
expectation  of  meeting  with  any  change.  He  believed 
in  Christianity,  he  had  made  up  his  mind,  in  a  quiet 
way  to  be  a  Christian.  He  had  a  great  dislike  to  re- 
ligious terms.  The  expressions:  "  He  has  come 
out,"  "He  has  experienced  religion."  "  He  is  convert- 
ed," were  very  distasteful  to  him.  He  then  went 
on  to  say: 

"But  I  took  my  seat  half  way  down,  I  think,  in 
that  aisle.  (Pointing  to  one  of  the  center  aisles.) 
From  my  experience,  it  is  the  most  uncomfortable  sit- 
uation in  this  whole  house  for  a  half-and-half  Christian ; 
but  I  stand  here  to-night  an  unworthy  occupant  of 
this  place,  because  I  was  an  uneasy  occupant  of  that 
seat.  I  have  already  told  some  others  that  Mr. 
Moody  seemed  to  know  that  I  was  here  and  to  under- 
stand my  case  precisely.  His  eye  seemed  to  range 
over  to  that  very  spot,  and  his  whole  artillery  seemed 
to  bear  upon  that  one  spot,  and  his  sermon  drove  the 
cowardice  out  of  my  heart,  and  then  and  there  I  re- 
solved that  at  the  first  opportunity  I  would  carry  the 
flag  and  wear  the  uniform  of  the  Master  I  proposed 
to  serve.  But  away  back  of  all  this,  is  the  superior 
fact  that  for  nine  and  forty  years  I  have  been  the  ob- 
ject of  constant  and  of  loving  prayers.  When  those 
prayers  first  began  to  affect  my  mind  it  is  impossible 
for  me  to  tell.  John  Stuart  Mill  says  to  debating 
Christians:  '  Hold  on  to  the  argument  of  design,  if 
you  wish  to  prove  the  existence  of  God.'  And  I  say 
here  this  evening,  to  believing  Christians,  hold  on  to 


moody  m  BOSTON.  309 

God's  promises  concerning  prayer,  if  you  want  to 
prove  His  oversight  and  His  care  for  the  human 
soul.  Ah,  it  is  in  answer  to  those  prayers,  I  be- 
lieve, that  I  am  here  with  you.  There  is  sentiment 
enough  about  prayer.  Men  will  melt  and  have  their 
hearts  touched  as  you  repeat  poetry  about  prayer. 
But  it  is  the  Bible,  and  in  it  this  truth,  as  imperish- 
able as  the  law  of  the  ever-living  God, — that  prayer  is 
heard  and  prayer  is  answered,  for  He  has  said :  'And 
all  things,  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  prayer,  believ- 
ing, ye  shall  receive.'  I  never  left  my  mother,  to  my 
recollection,  in  my  whole  life,  for  any  length  of  time, 
but  what  she  said  to  me  when  I  left  her:  <I  want 
to  live  long  enough  to  see  you  give  your  heart  to  your 
Savior.'  It  was  the  conclusion  of  every  separation,  it 
was  the  burden  of  every  letter  she  ever  wrote  to  me  in 
her  life.  I  remember  on  one  occasion,  and  there  are 
those  here  who  can  recall  the  fact,  that  I  was  invited 
by  my  fellow-citizens  to  deliver,  in  Tremont  Temple, 
an  address  upon  the  campaign  in  Mississippi  and  the 
surrender  of  Port  Hudson.  The  mayor  of  the  city  pre- 
sided. The  hall  was  crowded,  and  we  were  all  at  the 
white  heat  of  patriotism.  I  was  endeavoring  to  pic- 
ture the  advance  and  occupation  by  our  victorious 
army  of  those  blood-stained  uplands.  The  whole 
scene  was  vividly  before  me,  and  when  I  came  to  the 
scene  where  at  command,  7,000  of  our  then  foes, 
laid  down  their  guns  and  the  dear  old  flag  ran  up  the 
pole,  where  for  more  than  two  months  had  been 
flaunting  in  our  eyes  the  standard  of  rebellion,  why, 
the  whole  audience  went  wild,  the  music  struck  up 
and  they  rose  upon   their  feet,  surging  and  swaying 


310  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

with  cheers.  As  I  stood  there  alone  amidst  that  wild 
burst  of  enthusiasm  I  looked  into  the  left  of  the  gal- 
lery and  saw  one  pale,  unemotional  face.  It  was  the 
face  of  my  mother.  She  was  a  little  woman.  It 
seemed  as  though  I  could  lift  her  in  the  palm  of  my 
hand,  but  she  was  great  in  love  and  faith,  and  when  I 
met  her  she  said:  '  I  could  give  you  freely  to  my 
country;  but,  oh,  if  I  could  have  seen  you  to  talk  for 
your  Savior  I  would  ask  no  more  on  this  earth.'  There 
is  a  passage  in  Scripture:  'Except  ye  be  converted 
and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.'  I  know  what  that  means.  I 
know  what  it  is  to  feel  as  a  little  child,  though  my 
hairs  are  gray  with  the  footfalls  of  time.  JSTow,  I  wish 
to  say  here,  and  impress  it  upon  you,  that  at  that 
meeting  in  1863,  there  was  no  man  in  the  state  of 
Massachusetts  so  little  likely  to  be  reconciled  to  his 
God,  it  appeared  to  me,  as  myself.  I  was  entirely  ab- 
sorbed with  the  world.  I  was  careless  about  all  re- 
ligious influences,  and  it  was  my  belief  that  it  would 
all  come  out  right  in  the  end.  But  last  Wednesday 
I  stood  in  that  Temple,  and  as  I  rose  I  looked  down 
in  the  front  seat  and  there  was  my  old  father,  seventy- 
nine  years  of  age,  who  had  struggled  over  to  hear  his 
son  tell  of  the  glorious  tidings  of  this  gospel.  It  al- 
most broke  me  down,  but  I  went  on  as  well  as  I  could. 
Those  who  are  in  this  Christian  work  say  that  it  is 
my  duty  to  stand  here.  I  would  wish  myself  far  less 
publicity  in  this  matter,  but  I  dare  not  be  silent,  if  it 
is  possible  that  I  may  reach  out  and  help  save  some 
man's  soul.  I  believe  the  great  work  is  only  begun 
in  this  city.      The  great  tidal  wave  is  yet  to  sweep 


MOODY   m   BOSTON.  311 

over  this  place  of  our  alFection,  and  I  wish  to  do  some- 
thing. I  will  do  something  that  this  city,  on  these 
three  hills— this  city  that  cradled  Liberty,  and  that  has 
led  the  van  of  progress — should  believe  and  shine  as 
the  city  of  the  redeemed.  I  implore  you  who  listen 
to  me  to-night  to  come  to  your  Father's  house." 

This  address,  delivered  with  so  much  emotion  as  to 
make  his  words  at  times  almost  unintelligible,  pro- 
duced a  profound  effect  upon  the  audience. 

As  this  memorable  week  drew  toward  a  close,  the 
city  was  thronged  with  people,  from  the  towns  round 
about.  "The  scene  in  Tremont  street,"  one  of 
the  papers  remarked,  "  reminded  one  of  the  palmy 
days  of  the  World's  Peace  Jubilee.  The  street-cars 
and  every  kind  of  conveyance  were  loaded  down,  and 
large  crowds  of  people  wended  their  way  toward  the 
Tabernacle  on  foot,"  The  noon-meeting  at  Tremont 
Temple  was  largely  attended.  The  Park  street  church 
was  completely  filled  long  before  the  services,  and  the 
Tabernacle,  both  afternoon  and  evening  had  nearly  as 
large  a  crowd  on  the  outside  as  succeeded  in  getting 
in.  Mr.  Moody  preached  the  well-known  sermon, 
"  Tekel,"  which  is  one  of  the  most  vivid  and  dra- 
matic of  all  the  series.  It  was  from  beginning  to  end 
a  panorama  of  graphic  pictures,  interspersed  with 
pungent  and  telling  appeals.  He  closed  as  follows: 
"  Now,  some  people  here  no  doubt  are  saying,  <  I  would 
just  like  to  get  Mr.  Moody  alone  for  a  few  moments, 
and  I  would  ask  him  how  it  is  with  him.  Is  he  not 
going  to  be  weighed?  Hasn't  he  broken  any  of  these 
laws?'  'Yes.'  I  don't  know  how  many  sins  I  have 
committed — sins  of  omission  and  commission — but  if 


^12  TTMttS    OF    REFRESHING. 

I  know  my  heart  I  would  step  into  those  scales  to-day 
and  be  weighed.  The  Son  of  God  would  step  in  with 
me  and  he  would  bear  down  the  weights.  We  can  be 
ready  to  step  in  if  we  have  Christ  with  us  to  balance 
the  law.  We  have  broken  it,  but  Christ  never  did. 
I  feel  safe  in  him  for  I  have  received  Him  as  my  way, 
my  truth,  my  light,  my  hope,  my  king,  my  all  in  all. 
I  can  step  into  the  scales  with  joy  because  the  Son  of 
God  is  with  me.  Without  Christ  I  should  not  be  able 
to  bring  down  the  weights,  but  with  Him  I  can  easily 
pull  them  down.  Will  you  be  saved  to-day?  If  you 
will  not,  when,  by  and  by,  God  summons  you  into  the 
scales  it  will  be  written  over  you:  '  Tekel,  tekel; 
thou  art  weighed  in  the  balances  and  art  found  want- 
ing.' My  friends,  what  will  you  do  to-night?  Ee- 
main  as  you  are  and  be  lost,  or  accept  salvation  and 
be  saved?" 

On  Friday,  April  27,  the  usual  temperance  meeting 
was  held,  and  in  the  evening  the  Tabernacle  was  filled 
before  seven  o'clock,  and  nearly  as  many  turned  away 
from  the  doors  as  found  admission.  Mr.  Moody  spoke 
of  the  future  work.  He  hoped  it  would  go  on  through 
the  summer.  Arrangements,  he  said,  had  been  made 
to  get  laborers  from  abroad  and  our  own  country  to  keep 
the  work  going  on,  and  the  building  open  for  another 
year.  He  then  preached  with  great  power  on  the  con- 
version of  Saul. 

Sunday,  April  29,  was  the  closing  day  of  the 
three  months'  services.  It  was  a  day  full  of 
clouds  and  rain.  In  the  early  morning  the 
Tabernacle  was  filled  in  a  few  moments  after 
the  doors  were  open,  to   hear  Mr.  Moody's  sermon 


MOODY   IN    BOSTON.  313 

on  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ.  Fully  seven  thous- 
and women  heard  his  afternoon  sermon  on  "  What 
God  is  able  to  do."  He  closed  with  the  following  illus- 
tration. The  printed  words  can,  of  course,  give  no 
idea  of  the  effect  with  which  they  were  delivered:  "I 
remember  a  circumstance  that  happened  some  years 
ago.  A  man  was  caught  in  the  current  at  Niagara 
and  was  about  to  be  swept  over  the  falls,  but  he  caught 
to  a  clinging  rock.  His  position  was  seen  from  the 
shore.  The  news  was  spread  all  over  the  coun- 
try. The  newspapers  all  had  despatches  about  it. 
The  whole  country  was  stirred  by  that  man's  position, 
and  the  whole  nation  was  eager  to  save  that  one  man. 
They  conld  not  make  him  hear,  so  they  wrote  in  large 
letters  upon  a  board  upon  the  shore,  'We  will  save 
you.'  They  thought  they  could  save  him.  They  got 
ropes  and  rafts  and  logs  of  wood,  and  from  the  cur- 
rent up  above  they  floated  them  down  to  him.  But 
night  came  on;  they  lighted  large  fires  to  throw  light 
upon  him,  but  the  light  did  not  reach  him,  and  they 
had  to  wait  until  morning.  When  the  morning 
dawned  they  were  out  ready  to  assist  him,  but  he  was 
gone;  his  strength  had  given  out  in  the  night  and  he 
was  swept  into  the  jaws  of  death.  They  could  not 
save  him.  God  alone  could  save  him.  If  you  want 
to  be  saved  call  upon  God  now.  You  ask,  '  How 
shall  I  be  saved?'  I  will  tell  you.  You  can  be 
saved  by  just  telling  God  of  yourself.  Just  drop  into 
the  arms  of  your  loving  Savior  and  let  him  care  for 
you.  I  heard  of  a  man  once  wrho  fell  into  a  dry  well 
and  he  caught  the  rope  in  falling  and  there  he  hung 
in  great  anxiety.     lie  struggled  and  struggled,  but  all 


314  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

to  no  avail,  and  finally  he  gave  right  up  and  dropped 
— three  inches.  Just  drop  into  the  arms  of  your  Sav- 
ior and  you  will  be  saved.     He  is  able  to  save  you/' 

In  the  evening  Mr.  Moody  repeated  this  sermon  to 
another  overflowing  audience,  and  thus  closed  the 
first  series  of  the  revival  meetings.  Here  as  else- 
where the  extent  of  the  harvest  it  is  impossible  to 
measure.  Mr.  Moody  discourages  all  attempts  to  do 
it.  The  number  of  converts  in  Boston  is  not  known. 
The  extent  of  awakened  church  activity  cannot  be  de- 
termined. Still  less  can  we  tell  the  extent  of  the  re- 
vival throughout  New  England.  But  this  much  is 
certainly  known,  the  work  was  fruitful  beyond  the 
most  sanguine  anticipation  of  the  churches  of  Boston, 
and  beyond  the  expectation  of  the  evangelists  them- 
selves. 

A  comparison  between  the  revival  in  Chicago  and 
that  in  Boston  has  many  interesting  points. 

In  the  first  place,  the  two  cities  are  not  greatly  un- 
like. Boston  has  more  culture;  Chicago  more  enter- 
prise. Boston  is  conservative  in  business,  radical  in 
thought;  Chicago  is  radical  in  business,  and  a  mix- 
ture of  radicalism  and  conservatism  in  thought.  Not- 
withstanding these  differences,  they  are  alike  in  a  gen- 
eral intelligence  and  activity  of  thought  and  life. 
They  are  on  the  same  latitude,  and  the  contour  of 
Chicago  faces  is  more  like  those  of  Boston  than  any 
other  city.  In  each  there  is  a  certain  daring  inquis- 
itiveness,  and  a  mastering  love  of  novelty  in  opinion 
and  doctrine.  Each  is  the  center  of  wide-reaching  in- 
fluence, commercial,  literary  and  religious. 

Mr.  Moody's  relations  to  the  two  cities  were  very 


MOODY   IN   BOSTON.  315 

different.  Chicago  was  his  home;  everybody  knew 
him.  He  had  fought  his  way  to  thorough  respect  and 
confidence.  Whatever  advantage  he  had  lost  on  the 
score  of  the  novelty  of  his  methods  or  his  face,  being 
a  prophet  who  for  twenty  years  had  become  familiarly 
known  in  his  own  country,  he  more  than  regained  by 
the  knowledge  the  people  had  of  his  courage,  conse- 
cration and  thorough  Christian  manhood.  Boston 
was  for  a  while  the  home  of  his  boyhood.  In  its 
streets  he  had  learned  some  of  his  first  lessons  of  self- 
reliance  and  faith  in  God.  But  as  an  evangelist  the 
man  and  his  methods  were  new.  Those  methods  also 
more  severely  antagonized  the  religious  habits  of  Bos- 
ton. He  brought  more  innovation  to  Boston  than  to 
Chicago.  His  own  city  had  become  somewhat  used 
to  those  successful  plans  which  are  new  only  in  that 
he  has  made  them  broader  and  more  comprehensive. 
The  personal  impact,  the  singleness  of  purpose  which 
are  back  of  these  Tabernacle  movements  and  give 
them  vitality,  to  these  the  people  of  Chicago  had  been 
accustomed  for  years.  In  Boston,  if  not  unknown, 
they  were  at  least  not  so  common.  Christian  work 
was  done  more  at  the  long-pulpit  range,  less  at  the 
close  quarters  of  man  with  man. 

With  allowance  for  these  differences,  let  us  glance 
at  the  similarities  of  plans  and  results.  As  to  plans, 
we  notice  that  Mr.  Moody  continued  in  the  Eastern 
city  the  same  line  of  attack  as  in  the  West.  The 
Tabernacle  was  the  center  of  the  great  movement.  As 
at  the  West,  and  with  more  emphasis,  he  began  with 
Christians.  He  thus  carried  out  the  idea  of  Mr.  Finney, 
that  a  revival,  to  be  thorough  and  permanent,  must 


316  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

begin  in  the  church.  When  the  church  members  had 
humbled  themselves  before  God,  then  he  commenced 
calling  sinners  to  repentance.  As  here,  the  first  five 
or  six  weeks  were  weeks  of  steadily  increasing  audi- 
ence and  deepening  power.  Then  came  a  week  or 
two  when  the  work  seemed  to  make  no  progress.  The 
novelty  had  worn  off.  The  results  had  not  yet  risen 
prominently  to  view.  Criticism,  at  first  overawed, 
grew  bolder.  Some  who  should  have  befriended, 
showed  lukewarmness ;  a  few  opposition.  The  secu- 
lar press  began  to  report  failure.  The  religious  press 
faltered  in  doubt.  There  was  a  similar  time  in  Chi- 
cago, save  that  here  there  was  no  adverse  criticism. 
It  was  the  natural  pause  between  the  first  flush  of 
enthusiasm  and  the  settling  down  to  steady  work.  In 
that  pause  in  Boston,  Mr.  Moody's  generalship  and 
faith  became  more  conspicuous  than  ever.  He  changed 
front,  and  flanked  the  enemy  before  they  knew  it. 
Suddenly  prayer- meetings  sprang  up  all  over  Boston. 
There  were  clerks'  meetings,  merchants'  meetings, 
expressmen's  meetings,  marketmen's  meetings.  Ev- 
ery calling  was  attacked.  All  at  once  a  new  interest 
developed  all  over  the  city.  The  business  men  of 
Boston  were  reached,  and  with  new  impetus  the  re- 
vival went  forward.  Criticism  lowered  its  tone — the 
churches  gathered  more  solidly  than  ever  around  the 
great  leader,  and  the  success  of  the  work  was  as- 
sured. 

The  closing  weeks  in  Chicago  and  in  Boston  were 
much  alike.  In  each  place  the  temperance  work  won- 
derfully developed.  The  same  reformations,  the  same 
testimonies  of  the  grace  of  God,  the  same  organization 
among  the  reformed  men  to  reach  their  comrades  still 


MOODT   IN   BOSTON,  317 

in  bonds.  Boston  had  the  advantage  of  the  judicious, 
intelligent,  and  well-directed  labors  of  Miss  Willard 
among  the  women.  She  is  a  power  wherever  she 
goes,  and  Mr.  Moody  gave  another  illustration  of  his 
sagacity  in  calling  her  to  his  aid  in  the  temperance 

work. 

There  was  in  Boston  the  same  practical  effect  on 
public  morals  as  elsewhere.  The  non-evangeliea! 
churches  were  in  great  trouble  before  Mr.  Moody 
came,  for  fear  his  coming  would  hurt  the  morals  of 
that  center  of  culture.  The  result  does  not  justify 
those  fears.  The  cases  of  restitution  so  marked  in 
the  Chicago  work  were  increased  in  Boston.  Stolen 
money  was  returned,  and  confessions  made  under  the 
power  of  the  gospel  of  faith  which  Mr.  Moody 
preaches. 

The  increase  of  liberality  was  also  a  mark  of 
the  work.  At  the  beginning  of  the  services  they 
succeeded  in  raising  $6,000,  only  at  the  expense 
of  throwing  all  Boston  into  excitement.  At  the 
closing  service  $20,000  were  joyfully  given,  and  an 
additional  $13,000  afterward  to  keep  the  building 
open  for  a  year. 

Arrangements  are  being  made  by  which  the  work 
may  be  carried  on  throughout  New  England,  with 
Boston  as  a  center,  during  the  autumn  and  winter  of 
18T7.  With  Mr.  Cook's  lectures  in  Tremont  Tem- 
ple to  shatter  the  rationalism  of  Boston,  and  with 
Moody  and  Sankey  in  the  Tabernacle,  and  other  evan- 
gelists throughout  the  towns  of  New  England,  we 
may  confidently  expect  a  harvest  work  of  grace,  more 
wide-reaching,  if  not  more  powerful,  than  that  in  the 
days  of  Whitefield  and  Edwards, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

REVIVALS    AND  SACRED  SONG. 

Feeling  is  as  essential  to  religion  as  seeing.  That- 
religion  which  appeals  only  to  the  emotions,  and  con- 
sists in  stimulating  the  sensibilities,  will  be  puerile 
and  fanatical.  He  knows  not  what  true  piety  is  who 
takes  tears  and  excitement  a,s  a  token  of  the  presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  who  does  not  rest  mainly  on 
the  clear  grasp  of  truth  and  the  faithful  application 
of  the  principles  of  righteousness  to  the  daily  life. 
Truth,  in  thought  and  in  action,  is  the  fundamental 
thing  in  religion.  But  to  receive  the  truth,  or  to 
enforce  it,  there  needs  to  be  emotion  as  well  as  intel- 
lect. The  intellect  discerns  truth  most  easily  under 
the  impulsion  of  feeling.  As  the  bullet  goes  straight  - 
er  to  the  mark,  driven  by  the  blazing  powder,  than 
the  stone  which  rolls  down  hill  from  the  force  of 
gravitation,  so  men  see  a  fact  quicker  when  their 
minds  are  all  aglow,  and  plan  more  perfectly  and  act 
more  powerfully,  when  wrought  up  to  intense  activ- 
ity by  exalted  feeling. 

Those  who  deprecate  the  rousing  of  religious  emo- 
tion, then,  and  wish  only  the  cold,  white  light  of  in- 
tellect, would  rob  us  of  the  very  power  that  makes 
the  intellectual  process  good  ibr  anything.     Truth  is 

Hi 


3?  &>T3£u*s. 


REVIVALS   AST)    SACRED    SONG.  319 

the  seed,  without  which  there  can  be  no  harvest;  but 
feeling  is  the  warmth  that  thaws  the  frosty  intellect 
so  that  the  seed  can  drop  into  it,  and  then  nurses 
that  germ  into  growth.  Feeling  is  the  wind  in  the 
sails  of  intellect  that  blows  it  on  to  a  glorious  voy- 
age. Stripped  of  the  susceptibility  through  which  we 
are  awed  by  sublimity,  entranced  by  beauty,  alarmed 
by  peril,  won  by  an  exalted  ideal,  touched  with  sym- 
pathy, enkindled  with  gratitude,  fired  with  noble 
resolution,  we  should  be  deformed  and  crippled  in 
the  race  for  truth. 

Nothing  so  powerfully  appeals  to  the  noblest  emo- 
tions of  human  nature  as  the  great  truths  of  the 
Christian  religion.  And  never  does  the  soul  so  viv- 
idly see  those  truths,  nor  so  easily  and  gladly  act 
upon  them,  as  when  under  the  influence  of  those 
emotions.  Poetry  and  song  are  the  natural  language 
of  strong  feeling;  it  falls  as  easily  into  rhythmical 
and  musical  forms,  as  logic  shapes  itself  into  closely 
articulated  prose.  Great  joy  breaks  out  in  the  bal- 
anced modulations  of  a  song,  and  great  grief  chants 
its  wailing  monody,  by  as  natural  a  law  as  the  dew 
shapes  its  perfect  globe,  or  the  snow  its  crystal  star. 

Hence  from  the  very  earliest  times  religious  emotion 
has  taken  music  for  its  vehicle,  and  songs  have  been  the 
instruments  it  has  used  to  awaken  new  devotion. 
When  King  David  brought  the  Jewish  Church  up 
to  the  highest  point  of  spirituality  and  splendor  of 
worship,  his  psalms  of  praise  were  among  his  chief 
reliances  for  fostering  the  spirit  of  devotion.  Yet  he 
did  not  invent  religious  music.  He  simply  seized  it 
as  a  natural  language  in  which  the  soul  instinctively 


320  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

seeks  to  voice  its  noblest  feeling.  And  his  magnifi- 
cent provision  for  the  service  of  sacred  song,  with 
more  than  four  thousand  singers  and  players  upon 
instruments,  divided  into  antiphonal  choirs,  was  per- 
haps the  nearest  approach  to  high  Art  the  Hebrews 
ever  reached.  What  a  Niagara  of  praise  that  vast 
chorus  must  have  poured  forth. 

Those  matchless  lyrics  of  devotion,  the  Psalms,  have 
been  ever  since  among  the  choicest  aids  to  worship. 
Christ  himself  set  the  example  to  his  church  by  lead- 
ing his  disciples  in  the  "  Hallel"  of  praise  after  his  last 
6upper.  And  the  apostolic  churches  were  quick  to  fol  - 
low  that  example.  The  prayer-meetings  by  riversides, 
the  gatherings  in  upper  chambers,  the  conferences  in 
prison,  the  assemblies  in  catacombs,  were  all  vocal  with 
sacred  song.  And  the  theme  that  most  enlisted  their 
praise  was  this  Divine  Master  himself.  Their  hymns 
were  full  of  delight  in  his  incarnation,  his  nativity,  his 
resurrection  and  the  immortality  which  this  betokened. 
And  these  Christian  lyrics  spread  far  and  near,  some- 
what as  our  revival  melodies  to-day  are  whistled  by 
the  street  boys  and  sung  in  every  home.  A  little 
later,  Jerome  said:  "Go  where  you  will,  the  plow- 
man at  his  plow  sings  his  joyful  hallelujahs,  the  busy 
mower  regales  himself  with  his  psalms,  and  the  vine- 
dresser is  singing  one  of  the  songs  of  David."  Fear- 
less of  persecution,  they  sang  their  exultant  praises  in 
streets  and  forum,  and  died  in  martyr-fires  with  these 
songs  on  their  shriveling  lips. 

The  teaching  power  of  hymns  was  very  early  recog- 
nized. The  Christians  of  Antioch  depended  as  much 
<jti    their   songs    as   on    their   arguments,    as   weap- 


REVIVALS   AND   SACRED   SONG.  321 

ons  against  heres}'.  "When  Ambrose  was  Bishop 
of  Milan,  A.  D.  386,  his  doctrinal  struggle  was 
against  the  Arians,  and  his  civil  struggle  was  against 
the  Empress  Justina  and  her  troops,  who  de- 
manded that  the  great  basilica  should  be  given  up 
for  the  use  of  the  Arians.  But  the  citizens  flocked 
about  their  bishop,  filling  the  great  cathedral,  and  re- 
mained there  day  and  night  to  "  Hold  the  Fort,"  and 
the  wise  bishop  relieved  their  weariness  and  intensi- 
fied their  faith  by  the  noble  hymns  he  taught  them. 
He  took  the  most  rhythmical  form  of  Latin  verse  for 
his  hymns,  and  set  them  to  popular  melodies  that  all 
the  congregation  could  sing,  so  that  the  whole  city 
was  his  choir.  It  was  as  much  of  an  innovation  in 
his  times  as  are  the  popular  sacred  ballads  of  our 
modern  revivals.  He  himself  says  of  it:  "  A  grand 
thing  is  that  singing,  and  nothing  can  stand  before 
it.  For  what  can  be  more  telling  than  the  confession 
of  the  Trinity,  which  a  whole  population  utters  day 
by  day.  For  all  are  eager  to  proclaim  their  faith, 
and  in  measured  strains  have  learned  to  confess  Fa- 
ther, Son  and  Holy  Ghost." 

What  power  this  holy  music  had  over  a 
marvelous  intellectual  nature,  Augustine  tells  ns 
in  speaking  of  his  own  baptism:  "Oh,  how 
freely  I  was  made  to  weep  by  these  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs,  transported  by  the  voices  of  the 
congregation  sweetly  singing.  The  melody  of  their 
voices  filled  my  ear,  and  divine  truth  was  pour- 
ed into  my  heart.  Then  burned  the  sacred  flame  of 
devotion  in  my  soul,  and  gushing  tears  flowed  from 
my  eyesj — as  well  they  might."     It  was  a  peculiarity 


322  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

of  these  early  Latin  hymns  that  each  one  was  es- 
pecially associated  with  some  particular  time,  when 
it  was  to  he  sung,  so  that  each  hour  of  the  day,  each 
day  of  the  week,  each  week  and  season  of  the  year, 
had  its  special  hymn,  and  in  those  dark  days  when 
Bibles  were  rare  and  the  multitude  could  not  read, 
there  was,  as  Mrs.  Charles  says,  "  a  beautiful  and 
practical  meaning  in  linking  the  passing  hours  with 
heaven,  thus  making  Time  himself  read  aloud  the 
gospel  history,  and  converting  the  seasons  of  the  year 
into  a  kind  of  pictorial  Bible  for  the  poor."  The 
year  was  thus  turned  into  a  great  rosary  of  song,  with 
headed  hymns  for  every  hour. 

Every  good  thing  may  be  abused.  And  so  we  find 
that  sacred  music  was  very  early  perverted  from  an 
instrument  of  devotion  into  a  mere  device  for  excit- 
ing curiosity  and  wonder.  In  the  early  churches, 
three  kinds  of  chants  were  used:  a  monody,  or  solo; 
an  an ti phonal  chant,  where  alternate  voices  answered 
eacH  other;  and  the  choral,  in  which  all  voices  united. 
Sometimes  a  single  rich  voice  would  chant  the  pre- 
lude, and  then  the  whole  congregation,  with  an  out- 
burst of  melody,  would  come  in  on  the  chorus.  But 
so  early  as  the  fourth  century,  Jerome  complained  of 
the  "theatrical  modulations,"  that  crept  in  to  spoil  the 
simple  worship  of  their  songs.  And  the  Fourth  Coun- 
cil of  Carthage,  A.  D.  398,  felt  called  upon  to  issue 
this  injunction  to  the  singers:  "  See  what  thou  sing- 
est  with  thy  mouth,  that  thou  believestin  thine  heart; 
and  what  thou  believest  in  thine  heart,  thou  connrm- 
est  also  in  thy  life," — a  sentiment  as  good  to-day  as 
it  was  fourteen  hundred  years  ago.      As  vital   piety 


REVIVALS    AND    SACRED    SONG.  323 

languished  in  the  dark  ages,  so  languished  religious 
music  as  the  expression  of  devotion.  There  was  sing- 
ing in  the  churches,  indeed,  but  it  consisted  of  artifi- 
cial and  complicated  tunes,  sung  by  choirs  of  priests, 
in  a  language  dead  to  the  people,  and  to  music  that 
was  above  their  comprehension,  and  only  awakened 
their  wonder.  People  went  to  church  to  "hear  the 
music,"  not  to  voice  their  worship  in  song;  as  some 
do  at  this  day.  To  correct  these  extravagant  abuses, 
Gregory  the  Great  adopted  a  lew  plain  chants,  which 
still  go  by  his  name,  and  Charlemagne  enforced  (hem 
throughout  the  Western  Church  at  the  close  of  the 
seventh  century. 

But  religion  was  so  stagnant  that  the  abuses  still 
prevailed.  And  they  were  such  vampires,  sucking 
the  life-blood  of  piety  out  of  the  churches  that  used 
them,  that  many  of  the  early  Protestants  would  not 
tolerate  either  vocal  or  instrumental  music  in  their 
churches.  Among  the  English  Baptists  it  was  years 
"  before  singing  the  praises  of  God  could  be  endured." 
They  called  it  kk  error,  apostasy,  human  tradition,  and 
carnal  worship."  And,  after  many  years,  it  was  al- 
lowed only  at  the  close  of  service,  so  that  those  who 
objected  to  it  might  withdraw.  Even  after  the  sing- 
ing of  psalms  was  allowed,  many  stoutly  resisted  the 
use  of  musical  instruments.  When  Bishop  Berkeley 
sent,  as  a  gift  to  the  Rhode  Island  town  that  bears 
his  name,  an  organ  for  the  church,  it  was  declined  at 
first,  on  the  ground  that,  "  an  organ  is  an  instrument 
of  the  devil,  for  the  entrapping  of  men's  souls." 

But  when  the  Reformation  came  in  Germany,  the 
long  pent  up  religious  devotion  burst  forth  in  a  tor- 


324  TIMES   OF   BEFBESHING. 

rent  of  congregational  singing.  Luther  was  a  born 
musician,  as  well  as  a  born  preacher  and  leader.  He 
felt  that  here  was  a  powerful  instrumentality  for  good, 
which  must  be  rescued  from  its  bondage,  and  given 
back  to  the  people  to  strengthen  and  help  them. 
"  Music  is  the  art  of  the  prophets,"  said  he;  "  It  is 
the  only  art,  which,  like  theology,  can  calm  the  agi- 
tation of  the  soul,  and  put  the  devil  to  flight."  He 
especially  insisted  that  the  young  should  be  educated 
in  music,  and  that  they  should  be  trained  in  noble  re- 
ligious hymnB,  which  should  "  take  the  place  of 
worldly  and  amorous  songs."  He  even  went  so  far 
as  to  declare  that  he  would  not  employ  a  school- 
teacher, nor  ordain  a  young  man  as  a  preacher,  unless 
they  had  some  "  skill  in  music."  As  one  of  the  most 
important  steps  in  his  great  movement,  he  gathered 
at  his  house  a  band  of  men,  accomplished  in  music  as 
well  as  devoutly  religious,  and  with  their  aid  arranged 
to  his  own  stirring  words  the  old  and  favorite  melo- 
dies of  Germany,  making  them  so  simple  that  all  the 
people  might  use  them.  And  they  were  marvelously 
effective.  Children  learned  them  in  the  cottage,  and 
martyrs  sung  them  at  the  stake.  The  enemies  of  the 
"Reformation  said :  "  Luther  has  done  us  more  harm 
by  his  songs  than  by  hi6  sermons."  And  Coleridge 
affirms  that,  "Luther  did  as  much  for  the  Reforma- 
tion by  his  hymns  as  by  his  translation  of  the  Bible." 
As  the  result  of  his  influence,  after  the  Reformation 
whole  villages  in  Germany  resounded  with  these  sa- 
cred hymns  at  the  hour  of  morning  and  evening  de- 
votions. 

The  same  thing  was  true  of  other  countries  where 


REVIVALS   AND   SACKED    SONG.  325 

the  Keformation  had  full  sway.  In  England,  where 
the  grand  old  hymns,  such  as  the  "Gloria  in  Excelsis," 
and  the  uTe  Deum,"  had  kept  the  faith  pure  in  the 
midst  of  many  corruptions,  the  "Genevan  style,"  as 
it  was  called,  was  introduced,  and  whole  congrega- 
tions joined  in  simple  but  heart-stirring  hymns  of 
worship.  The  hymns,  indeed,  were,  for  the  most  part, 
labored  paraphrases  of  the  Psalms  of  David;  and  the 
tunes  would  sound  somber  and  heavy  to  our  modern 
ears,  but  they  thrilled  the  people  of  that  age  with  im- 
pressions of  solemnity.  Master  Mace,  of  that  day, 
says  of  it:  "When  the  vast  concord  and  unity  of  the 
whole  congregational  choir  came  thundering  on,  even 
so  as  to  make  the  very  ground  shake  under  us — ah! 
the  unutterable  ravishing  soul's  delight! — I  was  so 
transported  and  rapt  up  with  high  contemplation, 
that  there  was  no  room  left  in  my  body  and  spirit  for 
anything  below  divine  and  heavenly  raptures." 

Our  ancestors  brought  over  to  this  country,  there- 
fore, a  considerable  knowledge  of  sacred  music,  and 
skill  in  it.  Their  ministry  fostered  the  practice 
of  it.  Cotton  Mather  said:  "It  is  remarkable  that 
when  the  Kingdom  of  God  has  been  making  any 
new  appearance  a  mighty  zeal  for  the  singing  of 
Psalms  has  attended  it  and  assisted  it."  Most 
of  the  early  settlers  could  sing  by  note.  But 
the  old  books  wore  out,  divisions  sprang  up, 
the  training  of  the  young  in  the  knowledge  and 
use  of  notes  was  neglected;  so  that  as  the  eighteenth 
century  opened,  few  congregations  could  sing  more 
than  three  or  four  tunes,  and  they  sang  those  wretch^ 
edly.     A  minister  said   of  it,  that  it  sounded  "  like 


326  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

live  hundred  different  times  roared  out  at  the  same 
time,  so  hideously  aud  disorderly  as  is  bad  beyond  ex- 
pression. I,  myself,  have  twice  in  one  note  paused 
to  take  breath."  Old  Dr.  Bellamy  once  said  to  his 
choir  after  such  a  jargon,  "You  must  try  again;  for 
it  is  impossible  to  preach  after  such  singing."  The 
praise  of  God  in  song  became  in  many  cases  mechan- 
ical, ludicrous,  and  a  dreadful  farce,  and  oftentimes  the 
hymns  were  no  more  of  an  aid  to  devotion  than  the 
tunes.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  think  soberly  of  our  fore- 
fathers singing  in  all  seriousness,  as  they  did,  such  a 
hymn  as  this: 

"  Ye  monsters  of  the  bubbling  deep, 

Your  Maker's  praises  spout; 
Up  from  the  sands,  ye  codlings,  peep 

And  wag  your  tails  about." 

But  Watt  and  Wesley  came  along  and  reformed  the 
hymns,  and  better  ideas  of  church  music,  after  many 
a  bitter  struggle,  banished  the  old  dreary,  droning 
tunes,  and  put  heart-stirring  melodies  in  their  place. 
From  the  time  of  Jonathan  Edwards  to  the  present, 
church  music  has  been  one  of  the  noblest  and  most 
effective  instruments  in  religious  work. 

Now  as  we  run  the  eye  back  along  this  line  of  the 
development  of  sacred  song,  wThose  richer  fruit  we  to- 
day enjoy,  we  shall  be  struck  with  the  fact  that  the 
marked  epochs  of  its  progress  have  always  been  times 
of  great  religious  revival.  The  awakened  soul  has 
spontaneously  craved  expression  in  lyrics  of  aspira- 
tion and  praise;  and  these  lyrics  have  in  turn  become 
the  instruments  of  the  church,  to  prepare  for  a  new 
step  of  progress.     The  hymns  of  the  martyr-church 


REVIVALS  AND  BACKED  PONG.  32 7 

prepared  the  way  for  the  revival  of  Ambrose,  and  the 
hymns  they  prompted.  The  Ambrosian  hymns  with 
their  sweet,  but  whole-souled  piety,  were  the  thin  edge 
of  the  wedge  that  at  last,  as  the  reformation,  split  the 
Papacy  asunder,  and  gave  rise  to  the  martial  songs 
of  Luther.  And  the  music  of  Luther's  thought  rang  so 
mightily  in  the  hearts  of  the  Wesleys  and  Whiteiield, 
that  the  new  reformation  sprang  up,  as  they  organ- 
ized a  grand  campaign  to  restore  vital  piety. 

In  that  great  revival,  inaugurated  by  John  Wesley 
and  his  co-laborers,  sacred  song  was  exalted  to  the 
tame  honor  as  by  Luther.  Charles  Wesley,  writing 
more  than  four  thousand  hymns  during  his  career,  was 
the  Corypheus  of  the  movement,  and  gave  a  mighty 
impulse  to  it  by  his  poetic  genius.  They  feathered 
the  words  with  any  music  they  thought  would  send 
the  gospel  arrow  to  its  mark.  John  Wesley  heard  a 
sailor  singing  on  the  street,  and  straightway  wedded 
the  air  to  a  hymn,  and  found  it  the  most  solemn  and 
appropriate  of  all  his  tunes.  Whitefield  declared  that 
many  of  the  lively,  secular  ballad  airs  were  better 
suited  for  the  praise  of  God,  than  the  drawling  strains 
then  used  in  the  church.  Many  were  converted  un- 
der the  power  of  Wesley's  hymns.  Southey  says  of 
them :  "  Perhaps  no  poems  have  ever  been  so  devout- 
ly committed  to  memory  as  these,  nor  so  often  quot- 
ed on  a  death  bed." 

In  the  great  awakening  of  1740,  in  this  country, 
there  was  a  like  regeneration  of  devotional  music. 
Churches,  houses  and  streets  were  vocal  with  the  new 
joy.  And  when  some  complained  that  the  new  con- 
verts did  '  abound  so  much  in  singing,"  Jonathan  Ed- 


328  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

wards  staunchly  defended  the  custom,  saying:  u  They 
will  not  object  to  the  saints  and  angels  in  heaven 
singing  praises  and  hallelujahs  to  God  without  ceas- 
ing, day  and  night;  and  therefore  doubtless  will  al- 
low that  the  more  the  saints  on  earth  are  like  them  in 
their  disposition,  the  more  will  they  be  disposed  to  do 
like  them."  He  likened  the  objectors  to  the  dis- 
gusted Pharisees,  who  complained  of  the  "  Hosannas" 
that  greeted  Christ's  entry  to  Jerusalem.  He  also 
favored  the  open-air  singing,  saying:  "  If  a  consid- 
erable part  of  a  congregation  should  go  together  to 
the  place  of  public  worship,  (singing  as  they  went,) 
and  there  was,  in  other  respects,  a  proportionable  ap- 
pearance of  fervency  of  devotion,  it  appears  to  me  that 
it  would  be  ravishingly  beautiful,  if  such  things  were 
practiced  all  over  the  land,  and  would  have  a  great 
tendency  to  enliven,  animate  and  rejoice  the  souls  of 
God's  saints,  and  greatly  to  propagate  vital  religion 
I  believe  the  time  is  coming  when  the  world  will  be 
full  of  such  things."  This  great  leader  knew  the 
teaching  value  and  the  convicting  power  of  song. 
As  Gustavus  Adolphus  nerved  his  troops  for  battle 
by  having  them  sing  Luther's  grand  choral:  "Em' 
Feste  Burg,"  and  his  own  noble  hymn:  "Fear  not, 
0  little  flock,  the  foe;"  as  Cromwell  marched  his 
Roundheads  to  conflict  to  the  music  of  David's 
Psalms;  so  in  that  great  awakening  Edwards  brought 
men  to  decision,  and  clinched  the  great  truths  he 
preached,  by  Christian  hymns. 

The  same  thing  has  been  true  of  every  succeeding 
season  of  greatly  increased  interest  in  religion. 
Music  has  prepared  the  way  for  the  preacher,  enlist- 


REVIVALS   AND    SACRED    BONO,  329 

ing  the  attention,  engaging  the  sympathy,  making 
tender  and  receptive  the  heart,  and  afterwards  it  has 
driven  home  the  truth  of  the  sermon  with  redoubled 
power.  Dr.  Nettleton's  great  success,  filty  years  ago, 
was  greatly  helped  by  his  skill  in  the  use  of  hymns. 
He  once  heard  two  sweet  young  voices  warbling 
"  Bonnie  Doon,"  and  after  listening  with  delight  said : 
"I  think  I  can  teach  you  some  far  better  words  to 
that  tune,"  and  at  once  fitted  to  the  Scotch  melody 
Henry  Kirke  White's  hymn: 

"When  marshaled  on  the  mighty  plain," 

and  the  tune  has  been  ever  since  associated  with  the 
Star  of  Bethlehem. 

This  truth  is  still  further  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that  our  best  hymns  and  tunes,  the  immortal  lyrics 
that  live  as  golden  songs  for  ages,  are  born  of  that 
exalted  emotion  that  attends  intense  religious  interest. 
They  are  the  children  of  Revivals.  Such  hymns  as 
4  Rock  of  Ages,"  and  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee," 
could  not  come  from  a  debating  society,  nor  be  evolved 
from  the  cold-blooded  speculation  of  mere  philosophy. 
They  must  burst  forth,  as  roses  or  pansies  do,  under 
the  warm  summer  glow  of  strong  feeling.  A  great 
idea,  possessing  a  whole  church,  and  throbbing 
through  generations,  will  crystalize  itself  in  a  hymn, 
as  in  that  splendid  but  awful  hymn,  "  Dies  Irse," 
which  Walter  Scott  quoted  often  on  his  dying  bed, 
and  Dr.  Johnson  could  not  repeat  without  tears.  It 
was  the  outbloom  of  its  age,  written  when  Dante's 
dream  of  the  inferno,  and  Orcagna's  pictures  of  the 
Last  Judgment  on  the  walls  of  the  Campo  Santo  at 


330  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING.. 

Pisa,  had  made  more  vivid  than  ever  the  materialistic 
images  of  retribution.  It  conld  not  have  been  pro- 
duced in  any  other  age. 

One  of  the  most  truly  religious  of  all  composers 
was  Handel.  When  lie  wrote  the  "Hallelujah 
Chorus,"  he  says:  "I  did  think  I  did  see  all  heaven 
before  me,  and  the  great  God  himself;"  aud  when  he 
was  writing  the  music  for  the  words,  "  He  was  de- 
spised and  rejected  of  men,"  a  friend  found  him  sob- 
bing with  emotion.  On  the  other  hand  he  explained 
the  cheerful  air  of  his  church  music,  saying:  "  When 
I  think  on  God,  my  heart  is  so  full  of  joy  that  the 
notes  dance  and  leap,  as  it  were,  from  my  pen." 

That  sweetest  of  all  songs  of  Christian  trust, 

"Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul," 

was  brought  to  bloom  in  a  sunny  calm  that  followed 
a  furious  storm  in  the  great  revival  work.  The  broth- 
ers, John  and  Charles  Wesley,  were  attacked  one 
evening"  bv  a  furious  mob,  while  holding  an  open  air 
meeting.  They  had  to  fly  for  their  lives  from  the 
clubs  and  missiles;  and  when  at  last  they  escaped 
under  cover  of  the  darkness  to  a  springhouse,  where 
they  struck  a  light  and  bathed  their  soiled  and  bruised 
faces,  then  the  poet  drew  out  a  bit  of  lead,  hammered 
into  a  pencil,  and  wrote  this  "  queen  ot  all  lays  of 
holy  love." 

That  noblest  hymn  of  Divine  Providence,  "  God 
moves  in  a  mysterious  way,"  was  the  outburst  of 
Cowper's  gratitude  at  his  remarkable  deliverance  from 
suicide.  Gill's  beautiful  hymn,  "  Oh,  mean  may  seem 
this  house  of  clay,"  was  written  when  the  author  was 


REVIVALS    AND    SACRED    SONG.  331 

"  fresh  from  the  contemplation  of  the  anarchy  and 
misery  of  Shelley's  life." 

That  finest  lyric  of  American  devotional  life,  "  My 
faith  looks  np  to  thee,"  was  the  offspring  of  a  revival. 
In  1830,  Dr.  Nettleton  was  conducting  a  series  of 
meetings  in  New  York  city,  and  a  great  religious  in- 
terest attended  them.  Ray  Palmer,  a  young  Yale 
graduate,  was  teaching  in  the  city,  and  deeply  moved 
with  the  awakened  spirit  that  pervaded  the  commun- 
ity, he  penned  in  his  pocket  memorandum  book,  "  rap- 
idly and  with  his  eyes  swimming  in  tears,"  the  words 
of  this  beautiful  hymn  of  faith.  For  two  years  he  car- 
ried them  in  his  pocket  before  giving  them  to  Lowell 
Mason,  who  mated  them  to  the  music  of  "  Olivet," 
since  which  time  they  have  gone  to  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  on  the  wings  of  song. 

The  familiar  and  impressive  hymn,  u  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth passeth  by,"  was  written  by  Miss  Campbell  es- 
pecially to  commemorate  the  great  revival  in  Newark, 
N.  J.,  in  1864,  under  the  leading  of  Rev.  E.  P.  Ham- 
mond, when  the  churches  were  crowded  daily  with  an 
"eager,  anxious  throng,"  and  hundreds  were  converted. 
It  was  immediately  inspired  by  some  impressive 
remarks  of  R.  G.  Pardee  on  the  story  of  blind  Bar- 
timeus. 

These  facts  abundantly  attest  the  vital  connection 
of  religious  music  with  awakened  spiritual  life.  A 
devoted  and  useful  church  is  a  singing  church,  and 
the  broader  and  intenser  the  spiritual  life,  the  heart- 
ier and  more  joyful  the  songs;  and  it  is  natural  that 
the  steadily  increasing  use  of  this  powerful  agency  for 
teaching,  arousing  and  persuading  the   soul,  should 


332  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

culminate  in  the  methods  of  our  present  revivals  in 
which  song  becomes  one  of  the  most  efficient  aids  co 
conversion.  "We  are  J  earning  at  last  the  truth  of 
George  Herbert's  couplet: 

"A  song  may  win  him  who  the  gospel  flies 
And  turn  delight  into  a  sacrifice." 

The  most  marked  features  of  our  modern  revival 
music  are  the  greatly  increased  use  of  what  may  be 
termed  religious  ballads,  and  of  solo  singing,  as  .a 
means  of  impressing  religious  truth.  It  is  strange 
that  we  have  waited  so  long  before  using  what  has  for 
years  been  so  effective  in  other  departments  of  activity. 
A  single  voice  singing  the  "  Marseillaise  "  electrified 
the  French  crowds,  whose  united  chorus  was  a  shout 
of  patriotism.  The  "  Star  Spangled  Banner  "  and  the 
"  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Kepublic  "  are  more  effective 
creators  of  patriotic  enthusiasm  in  our  country  than 
any  speeches,  and  nothing  moves  and  melts  a  multi- 
tude like  a  tender  and  beautiful  ballad. 

Perhaps  Philip  Phillips,  the  "  Singing  Pilgrim," 
may  be  called  the  initiator  of  the  modern  methods. 
He  delighted  to  set  all  the  phases  of  Christian  expe- 
rience to  sweet  and  simple  music,  and  he  journeyed 
throughout  the  land,  and  even  around  the  world,  giv- 
ing his  "  evenings  of  sacred  song."  Men  were  touched 
by  his  melodies;  the  hearts  of  Christians  "  burned 
within  them"  as  they  listened;  and  wanderers  were 
won  back  to  the  Father's  house. 

But  a  greater  impetus  was  given  to  the  new  move- 
ment by  another  Philip.  Both  by  his  compositions, 
and  by  his  thrilling  singing  of  them,  the  lamented 


KEVTVALS   AND   SACRED   SONG.  333 

Philip  Paul  Bliss  is  one  of  the  central  figures  in  this 
new  epoch  of  sacred  song.  Born  in  the  little  village 
of  Rome,  Pa.,  in  1838,  his  own  name  and  the  titles  he 
gave  to  his  singing  books,  "  The  Charm,"  "  The  Sun- 
shine," "The  Joy,"  indicated  the  genial,  happy  na- 
ture which  became  an  element  of  such  power  in  his 
religious  career.  He  was  able  to  "  thank  God  for  a 
godly  ancestry;"  and  his  father  was  "  always  happy, 
always  trusting,  always  singing."  Morning  and 
evening,  in  the  porch  of  his  humble  home,  the  saintly 
man  sang  the  hymns  of  religious  affection:  "  Come, 
ye  sinners,"  "  Come  on,  my  partners  in  distress," 
"Come  to  that  happy  land."  Faith  and  song  were 
guardian  angels  over  the  little  boy's  cradle,  and  were 
the  inspiration  of  his  boyhood. 

Though  converted  at  the  age  of  twelve,  his  passion 
for  music  did  not  for  some  time  take  that  decidedly 
devotional  turn  which  has  since  made  his  name  a 
household  word  throughout  the  land.  With  few  ad- 
vantages for  education,  and  obliged,  from  boyhood,  to 
earn  his  own  livelihood,  his  training  was  slow,  and 
limited;  but  he  had  a  wonderfully  receptive  and 
spontaneous  mind,  and  he  absorbed  new  ideas  rapidly 
and  outgrew  the  expectations  of  his  friends.  Always 
sweet-spirited,  merry,  eager  to  know  the  truth,  and 
happy  in  the  expression  of  his  thought,  he  was  a  great 
favorite  with  every  one.  His  simple-hearted  naivete 
and  genuineness  are  shown* by  the  brief  account  in 
his  diary  of  his  wedding:  "  June  1,  1859.  Married 
to  Miss  Lucy  J.  Young,  the  very  best  thing  I  could 
have  done."  And  she  was  indeed  a  royal  helpmeet, 
not  only  in  their  "cot  of  content,"  but  as  the  inspir- 


334  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

ation  of  some  of  his  best  songs,  and  his  assistant  at 
conventions  and  revival  meetings  in  rendering  them. 

About  the  year  1865  he  came  to  Chicago  in  the  em- 
ploy of  Root  and  Cady,  and  held  musical  conventions, 
and  gave  concerts  and  private  musical  instruction 
through  the  Northwest.  It  was  while  touring  with 
his  wife  on  this  mission  to  encourage  and  elevate  the 
musical  taste  of  the  people  in  the  Mississippi  valley, 
that  he  first  appeared  as  a  solo  singer  in  a  religious 
convention.  Edward  Eggleston  was  holding  a  Sunday 
school  convention  in  a  certain  town,  and  found,  to  his 
dismay,  that  few  people  had  come  together,  and  very 
little  interest  was  manifested.  Something  was  needed 
to  turn  the  tide.  Some  one  remarked  to  him  that  Mr. 
Bliss  and  his  wife  had  arrived  in  town. 

"  Who  is  Bliss?"  he  inquired. 

"A  music-teacher  traveling  for  Root  and  Cady." 

"Bring  him  in." 

When  Mr.  Bliss  came,  in  response  to  this  rather 
dubious  invitation,  he  said  he  would  sing  if  he  could 
bring  his  melodeon  with  him.  The  church,  whose 
house  they  were  using,  still  held  to  the  old  Scotch 
prejudice  against  the  "  Kist  o'  Whistles,"  but  the 
minister  evaded  the  difficulty  by  saying:  "I  cannot 
give  you  permission  to  use  a  melodeon,  but  we  have 
lent  to  you  the  church  for  a  convention.  If  you  in 
troduce  a  meiodeon  I  am  not  responsible." 

The  hint   was  quickly   taken,    the    melodeon    was 
brought  in,  and   the  splendid  bass  of  Mr.  Bliss,  and 
the  rich  contralto  of  his  wife  soon  made  the  raftera 
vibrate  to  a  melody  to  which  they  were  quite  unaccus 
tomed.     "  Such  singing!  "  says  Mr.  Eggleston.     "  In- 


REVIVALS    AftD   SACKED    80NO.  335 

.stead  of  some  poor  country  singing-master,  beating 
out  his  music  as  with  a  flail,  I  soon  found  that  here 
was  a  man  with  one  of  the  richest  voices  in  the  world, 
capable  of  putting  his  own  strong  spirit  into  all  he 
sung.  He  made  us  forget  Tate  and  Brady;  he  sung 
us  into  a  state  of  delight,  and  I  saw  tears  running- 
down  the  cheeks  of  the  United  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter." From  that  hour  defeat  was  turned  into  victory, 
and  the  convention  was  a  great  success. 

While  Mr.  Bliss  was  thus  occupied  through  the 
Northwest,  he  passed  many  Sundays  in  Chicago.  One 
Sunday  evening,  in  the  summer  of  1869,  as  he  and  his 
wife  were  out  for  a  walk  before  church,  they  came 
upon  an  open  air  meeting  in  the  Court  House  square. 
It  was  Moody,  whom  he  had  never  seen  before,  hold- 
ing a  preliminary  meeting  which  he  meant  to  trans- 
fer to  a  theater  close  by  for  the  evening  service. 
Struck  by  the  intense  earnestness  of  the  preacher,  Mr. 
Bliss  and  his  wife  followed  the  crowd  to  Wood's  Mu- 
seum. The  usual  leader  of  the  singing  was  absent 
that  evening,  and  the  songs  went  rather  feebly;  so 
the  two  singers  lent  the  force  and  enthusiasm  of 
their  voices  all  the  more  noticeably  from  the  audience, 
When  the  meeting  closed,  Moody  was  at  the  door, 
shaking  hands  with  those  who  passed  out,  and  when 
this  great,  handsome,  black-eyed  singer,  with  his  no- 
ble-looking wife  came  along,  he  had  their  names  and 
history  in  two  minutes,  with  the  promise  that  they 
should  help  him  again  as  often  as  possible.  Moody 
asked  Boot  and  Cady  u  where  in  the  world  they  had 
kept  such  a  man  for  four  years,  that  he  hadn't  become 
known  in  Chicago?"     He  often  secured  Mr=  Bliss* 


336  TIMES  OT   REFRESHING. 

assistance  in  his  various  meetings  after  this;  and  it 
was  the  magnificent  voice  of  this  new  helper,  ringing 
out  some  stirring  hymn  in  Farwell  Hall,  that  first 
gave  to  Mr.  Moody  the  idea  of  associating  a  "  gospel 
singer"  with  himself  in  his  great  work. 

In  1870  Mr.  Bliss  first  met  Major  Whittle,  with 
whom  he  was  afterward  to  be  so  prominently  associa- 
ted in  revival  work.  A  Sunday  school  convention  in 
Kockford,  111.,  had  sent  for  Major  Whittle  to  address 
them,  and  to  bring  a  singer  if  possible.  The  singer 
whom  he  first  hoped  to  take,  Mr.  Wyman,  was  unable 
to  go,  but  introduced  Mr.  Bliss  as  just  the  man  for 
the  occasion.  And  in  the  Second  Congregational 
Church  of  Rockford,  the  future  evangelist  first  felt  the 
great  power  of  song  as  rendered  by  his  future  co-la- 
borer. As  the  result  of  this  meeting,  Major  Whit- 
tle recommended  Mr.  Bliss  as  chorister  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Chicago,  where  for  more 
than  three  years  he  conducted  the  service  of  praise, 
and  was  also  very  useful  and  much  beloved  as  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday  school. 

The  profoundly  religious  spirit  with  which  he 
managed  his  choir  was  a  splendid  example  to  all  chor- 
isters, and  was  one  secret  of  his  great  success.  His 
pastor.  Dr.  Goodwin,  thus  admirably  describes  it:  "He 
held,  as  I  did,  that  all  music  in  connection  with  wor- 
ship, whether  by  instrument  or  voice,  should  be  con- 
secrated and  worshipful.  In  his  conception,  he  who 
Jed  at  the  organ  should  be  one  to  come  to  the  keys 
fresh  from  the  closet,  one  who  should  pray,  as  his 
hand  swept  over  the  manuals,  that  the  power  of  God 
might,  through  him,  constrain  the  people's  hearts  to 


BEVIVALS   AND    SACRED    SONG.  337 

worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  So  he  believed  that  all 
who  led  in  the  service  of  song  should  sing  with  grace 
in  their  hearts;  that  the  music  should  be  strictly  spir- 
itual music,  not  selections  made  on  ground  of  taste, 
high  musical  character,  but  selections  aiming  at  hon- 
oring God,  exalting  Jesus  Christ,  magnifying  his  gos- 
pel, music,  in  a  word,  that  God's  Spirit  could  wholly 
own  and  use  to  comfort,  strengthen  and  inspire  God's 
people,  and  lead  unsaved  souls  to  Christ.  Accord- 
ingly, the  highest  devotional  character  marked  all  his 
selections,  all  his  rehearsals,  all  his  leadership  in  the 
Lord's  house.  It  was  his  invariable  custom  to  open 
his  rehearsals  with  prayer.  He  often  invited  me  to 
lead  in  that  service,  and  to  address  the  choir  on  the 
subject  of  the  singing  adapted  to  worship;  and  few 
weeks  passed  without  his  impressing  the  spiritual 
idea  as  the  all-controlling  one,  and  one  never  to  be 
forgotten  by  those  who  were  to  lead  the  praises  of 
the  congregation. 

"  As  Mr.  Bliss  stood  in  the  choir  gallery,  partly  fac- 
ing the  singers,  during  his  leadership,  there  was  ex- 
actly in  front  of  him,  in  the  center  of  the  Eastern 
window  of  the  transept,  a  large  crimson  cross.  Many 
times  during  rehearsals  he  would  point  thither,  say- 
ing: 4 1  am  glad  we  have  the  cross  always  before  us. 
Let  us  forget  everything  else  when  we  sing.  Let  as 
seek  to  have  the  people  lose  sight  of  us,  of  our  efforts, 
our  skill,  and  think  only  of  Him  who  died  thereon, 
and  of  the  peace,  comfort,  strength  and  joy  he  gives 
them  that  trust  Him.'  It  is  not  strange  that  with  such 
a  chorister  in  charge,  all  solicitude  about  anthems  and 
voluntaries  vanished  from  the  preacher's  mind." 


338  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

While  Moody  and  Sankey  were  being  so  greatly 
blessed  in  their  meetings  in  Scotland  and  England  in 
1873-74,  they  wrote  back  to  Chicago  urging  Whittle 
and  Bliss  to  engage  in  the  same  kind  of  evangelism. 
They  hesitated  somewhat,  feeling  uncertain  whether 
it  was  really  their  duty,  and  distrusting  their  ability. 
But  the  stormy  and  impetuous  earnestness  of  Mr. 
Moody  constantly  urged  them.  He  wrote:  "  You 
have  not  faith.  If  you  haven't  faith  of  your  own  on 
this  matter,  start  out  on  my  faith.  Launch  out  into 
fche  deep." 

An  invitation  to  Waukegan,  111.,  in  March,  1874, 
providentially  led  them  to  make  the  experiment, 
whose  issue  would  decide  whether  they  would  give 
themselves  permanently  to  such  work.  They  were  so 
abundantly  blessed  in  seeing  souls  converted  there, 
that  all  doubt  vanished  from  their  minds.  On  tin* 
afternoon  of  the  last  day,  Whittle,  Bliss  and  Cole  met 
in  the  study  of  the  Congregational  Church,  where  t lie 
meetings  were  held,  for  a  prayerful  consecration  to 
evangelistic  work.  Here,  as  Maj.  Whittle  says. 
"  Bliss  made  a  formal  surrender  of  everything  to  the 
Lord;  gave  up  his  musical  conventions;  gave  up  his 
writing  of  secular  music;  gave  up  everything,  and  in 
a  simple,  childlike,  trusting  prayer,  placed  himself, 
with  any  talent,  any  power  God  had  given  him,  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Lord,  for  any  use  he  could  make  of 
him  in  the  spreading  of  his  gospel."  From  this 
time  to  the  hour  of  his  death  he  was  wholly  and  un- 
reservedly given  to  the  work  of  "  singing  the  gospel  " 
in  connection  with  these  campaigns  of  revival  interest 

Before  this,  he  had  already  become  widely  known  as 


REVIVALS   AJSTD    SACRED    SONG.  339 

one  of  the  most  popular  and  successful  writers  of  Sunday 
school  songs  and  religious  ballads,  in  the  country;  but 
now  he  had  a  new  inspiration.  His  mind  was  continu- 
ally teeming  with  words  and  music.  lie  sought  the  es- 
pecial guidance  of  God  in  all  he  wrote,  and  appa- 
rently never  sang  a  hymn  without  lifting  a  silent 
prayer,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  make  it  an  effect- 
ive instrument  for  good.  When  he  was  compiling 
his  "Gospel  Songs,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend  for  sugges- 
tion^ ami  said:  "Above  all,  pray  for  the  book.  All 
the  good  in  the  book  must  come  from  God."  When 
Rev.  Dr.  Pierson,  of  Detroit,  wrote  the  hymn, — 

"  With  harps  and  with  viols," 

lie  would  not  undertake  the  music  for  it  till  he  had 
withdrawn  fur  a  season  of  prayer.  He  sought  to 
keep  his  soul  steeped  in  devotion. 

Vet  lie  was  as  prolific  in  lyrical  suggestions  as 
Charles  Wesley.  The  most  trifling  incident  would 
fake  on  the  color  of  his  own  intense  feeling,  and 
would  become  the  germ  of  a  song  which  would  sing 
itself  around  the  globe.  A  striking  metaphor,  a  tell- 
ing illustration,  a  touching  text,  would  become  a  nu- 
cleus  in  his  mind  around  which  a  famous  melody 
would  crystallize  itself. 

At  that  Sunday  school  convention  at  Rockford,  in 
1870,  he  heard  Major  Whittle  relate  the  thrilling  in- 
cident of  General  Corse  and  his  handful  of  men  at 
Altoona  Pass,  besieged  by  six  thousand  men  of  Gen- 
eral Hood's  army,  driven  into  a  small  fort  on  the 
crest  of  a  hill.  Their  position  seemed  hopeless, 
when  an  officer  caught  sight  of  a  signal  flag  waving 


340  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

on  Kenesaw  mountain,  twenty  miles  away.  It  said: 
"Hold  the  Fort!  lam  coming!— W.  T.  Sherman." 
The  air  rang  with  cheers,  and  the  place  was  held,  un- 
der a  murderous  fire,  till  rescue  came.  The  story  at 
once  suggested  to  Mr.  Bliss  that  famous  lyric,  of 
which  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  said :  "  If  Mr.  San key 
had  done  no  more  than  to  teach  the  people  to  sing 
•'Hold  the  Fort,'  he  would  have  conferred  an  inesti- 
mable blessing  on  the  British  Empire."  That  song- 
has  awakend  Christian  courage  in  many  climes.  A 
South  African  missionary,  while  on  a  tour,  heard  fa- 
miliar music  in  one  of  the  kraals  he  was  passing. 
Eager  to  know  the  occasion,  he  entered  the  hut,  and 
found  a  company  of  Zulu  children  singing  in  their 
native  dialect,  "  Hold  the  Fort." 

Mr.  Bliss  heard  Moody  tell  the  thrilling  story  of  a 
ship,  wrecked  one  wild  and  stormy  night  while  trying 
to  enter  the  Cleveland  harbor,  because  the  lower  light, 
which  needed  to  be  kept  just  in  line  with  the  upper 
light  to  mark  the  channel,  had  been  allowed  to  go 
out.  ''Brethren,"  said  he,  "the  Master  will  take 
care  of  the  great  light-house;  let  us  keep  the  lower 
lights  burning!"  Straightway  there  flashed  into  the 
mind  of  the  singer  that  song, — 

11  Let  the  lower  lights  be  burning! 

Send  a  gleam  across  the  wave; 
Some  poor,  fainting,  si  niggling  seaman 

You  may  rescue,  you  may  save !" 

Henry  Moorhouse,  of  England,  preached  every 
night  for  a  week  from  the  text,  "  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  ivho- 
toever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have 


REVIVALS   AND    SACRED    SONG.  341 

everlasting  life."  And  so  pungent  did  the  impres- 
sion become  in  the  mind  of  Bliss  that  the  hymn 
burst  forth, — 

"  'Whosoever  heareth!'  Shout,  shout  the  sound! 
Send  the  blessed  tidings  all  the  world  round; 
Spread  the  joyful  news  wherever  man  is  found, 
'  Whosoever  will  may  come.'  " 

He  heard  very  often  the  chorus, — 

11  Oh,  how  I  love  Jesus!" 

and  said  to  himself:  "  I  have  sung  long  enough  of 
my  poor  love  to  Christ,  and  now  I  will  sing  of  his 
love  for  me."  So  one  summer  morning,  in  1870, 
while  they  were  members  of  Major  Whittle's  family, 
Mrs.  Bliss  came  down  to  breakfast,  saying:  "Last 
evening  Mr.  Bliss  had  a  tune  given  to  him  which  I 
think  is  going  to  live,  and  be  one  of  the  most  used 
that  he  has  written.  1  have  been  singing  it  all  the 
morning  to  myself,  and  cannot  get  it  out  of  my 
mind."  She  then  sang  to  the  family  that  best  of  all 
children's  songs, — 

"  I  am  so  glad  that  our  Father  in  heaven 
Tells  of  his  love  in  the  book  He  has  given; 
Wonderful  things  in  the  Bible  I  see, 
This  is  the  dearest,  that  Jesus  loves  me. 
Chorus. — I  am  so  glad  that  Jesus  loves  me, 
Jesue  loves  even  me." 

Vincent  says  well  that  this  will  be  a  "child-song1' 
in  the  church  of  the  future,  and  it  has  been  greatly 
blessed  in  comforting  and  winning  souls  in  the  great 
revivals. 

The  reading  of  "  Gates  Ajar,"  and  the  discussion* 


342  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING, 

it  awakened,  occasioned  the  writing  of  that  hymn, 
which  was  a  favorite  of  his,  and  which,  by  a  sort  of 
prophetic  impulse,  was  the  last  song  he  sang  in  the 
great  meetings  in  Chicago  before  his  translation  to 
the  choir  above, — 

*'  I  know  not  the  hour  when  my  Lord  will  come 
To  take  me  away  to  His  own  dear  home; 
But  I  know  that  His  presence  will  lighten  the  gloom, 
And  that  will  be  glory  for  me." 

The  story  of  Jonathan  suggested,  "Only  an  Armor 
Bearer;"  an  English  story  of  a  shipwreck  suggested 
"  Pull  for  the  shore;"  and  a  sermon  suggested.  "  Al- 
most persuaded."  A  conversation  with  two  ladies  in 
Peoria,  vividly  impressing  him,  for  the  first  time, 
with  the  thought  of  Christ's  visible  coming,  and  per- 
haps very  soon,  was  the  inspiration  of  that  beautiful 
lyric,  "Till  Jesus  comes,"  of  which  F.  W.  Hoot  says: 
"  It  deserves  to  live  by  the  side  of  the  best  songs 
of  the  church;  its  intellectual  side  is  well  enough,  and 
its  emotional  side  is  to  me  irresistible.  And  I  will 
venture  to  say  that  it  will  live,  unless  I  am  mistaken 
in  the  belief  that  the  religious  progress  of  to-day  (of 
which  this  song  is  the  outgrowth)  is  giving  deeper 
consideration  to  the  things  of  the  heart  than  has  been 
given  in  any  epoch  known  to  history  hitherto." 

Thus  were  born  of  the  strong  feeling  of  this  con- 
*ecrated  heart  those  songs  which  were  destined  to  be 
among  the  chief  instruments  for  good  in  the  great 
meetings  in  England  and  America,  and  which  divid- 
ed the  affections  of  the  Christian  public  with  those 
precious  old  hymns,  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  "  There  is  a 
i  ountain  filled  with  Blood,"  artf  others.    And  his  reiu 


REVIVALS    A^B    SACRED    SONG.  34*t 

dering  of  them  was  often  thrilling.  At  Jackson, 
Michigan,  as  he  poured  out  his  soul  in  earnest  appeal 
in  the  tender  song,  "  For  you  I  am  praying/'  he  ad- 
ded the  verse, — 

"  And  Jesus  is  calling,  how  can  you  reject  him? 
He  says  he  loves  sinners,  so  then  He  loves  you. 
O  friend,  do  believe  it,  arise  and  accept  Him, 
Give  Jesus  your  heart,  while  I'm  praying  for  you." 

The  audience  was  deeply  moved,  and  more  than  a 
hundred  responded  to  his  appeal,  rising  to  declare 
their  intention  to  begin  the  Christian  life.  And 
then,  with  a  face  glowing  with  delight,  the  singer 
hurst  out  with  magnificent  voice  in  the  song,  "  Hal- 
lellujah!     Tie  done!" 

At  Madison,  Wisconsin,  in  an  immense  conffrega- 
tion.  lie  sang  one" evening  with  great  persuasive  pow- 
er and  pathos,  %w  Almost  Persuaded."  His  intensity 
of  feeling  grew  with  each  verse,  till  when  lie  reached 
the  last  line, — 

"  Almost,  but— lost," 

his  emotion  would  not  permit  him  to  finish  it,  and 
his  face  dropped  into  his  hands.  The  wave  of  feeling 
surged  through  the  whole  audience,  almost  painful  in 
its  solemnity,  and  scores  of  inquirers  flocked  to  the 
chapel. 

But  another  figure  has  been  even  more  prominent 
in  this  o-reat  modern  movement  of  evangelical  sonc>\ 
Ira  David  Sankey  was  born  in  1840,  in  Edinburgh, 
Pennsylvania.  His  parents,  who  were  members  of 
the  Methodist  church,  consecrated  him  to  the  Lord 
in  infancy,  and  surrounded  him  with  religious  influ- 


344  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

ences.  As  a  child  he  was  sensitive  to  musical  im- 
pressions, and  before  he  was  sixteen  he  composed 
times  for  himself.  The  financial  prosperity  of  his 
father  was  favorable  to  his  culture. 

An  old  Scotch  farmer  of  the  name  of  Frazer 
deeply  impressed  his  religious  sensibilities,  when  lie 
was  a  little  boy  of  six  years.  But  it  was  not  until 
his  sixteenth  year,  in  a  revival  in  Edinburgh,  where  bis 
family  worshiped,  that  he  was  led  by  the  affectionate 
solicitation  of  a  devout  steward  to  consecrate  himself 
wholly  to  the  Christian  life.  He  soon  became  an 
earnest  member  of  a  Methodist  church  in  Newcastle, 
Pennsylvania,  whither  his  father  had  moved  to  be- 
come President  of  a  bank,  and  made  himself  useful 
in  the  service  of  song.  At  twenty  he  was  superin- 
tendent of  a  Sunday  school  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  scholars.  Here,  in  his  intense  desire  to  benefit 
the  young  people  under  his  care,  he  perceived  that 
music  was  a  vehicle  for  conveying  religious  truth  to 
the  heart,  and  he  began  to  sing  the  gospel  to  his 
school,  with  great  effect.  It  was  thronged  with  eager 
listeners,  and  under  his  training  became  famous 
for  its  musical  skill. 

He  was  also  the  "  class-leader  "  for  some  sixty  or 

eighty  men   and   women,  which    led   him  to  "search 

the   Scriptures"    more   thoroughly    than   ever,    and 

deepened  the  earnestness  of  his  piety.      In  1867  he 

was  actively  engaged  in   a  movement  to  organize  a 

Young    Men's   Christian   Association  in   Newcastle, 

and   nfterwards    became   its    president.     His    ability 

as  a  singer  aUu  brought  hiin  more  and  more  into  re- 
ft ?5 

quest  in  conventions  and  religious  assemblies,  and  as 


REVIVALS   AND    SACRED   SONG.  345 

he  prayed  over  his  singing  as  anxiously  as  a  devout 
pastor  prays  over  his  sermon,  it  was  increasingly 
effective. 

In  1870  he  attended  an  International  Convention 
of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in  Indianap- 
olis. At  a  morning  prayer-meeting  led  by  Mr. 
Moody  the  singing  was  intolerably  drowsy  and  dull. 
Some  one  who  knew  Mr.  Sankey  called  him  forward 
to  take  charge  of  that  part  of  the  service,  and  as  his 
clear,  bell-like  voice  rang  out  in  the  hymns,  flexibly 
and  sympathetically  suiting  itself  to  express  every 
emotion  breathed  in  the  words,  the  convention  was 
electrified.  A  new  spirit  took  possession  of  the  meet- 
ing, and  instead  of  being  dragged  down  by  the  dead 
weight  of  lifeless  tunes,  it  was  lifted  up  on  buoyant 
wings  of  ecstatic  song.  As  soon  as  the  meeting  was 
over  Mr.  Moody  sought  an  introduction  to  the  singer, 
and  fired  these  pointblank  shots  at  him: 

"Where  do  you  live?" 

"  In  Newcastle,  Pennsylvania." 

"  Are  you  married?" 

"Yes." 

"  How  many  children  have  you?" 

"  One." 

"  I  want  you." 

"  What  for?" 

"  To  help  me  in  my  work  at  Chicago." 

"  I  cannot  leave  my  business." 

"  You  must.  I  have  been  looking  for  you  for  the 
last  eight  years.  You  must  give  up  your  busi- 
ness and  come  to  Chicago  with  me." 

It  was  a  startling  proposition,  to  give  up  a  profita- 


B4S  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

hie  business,  to  break  up  his  home,  and  to  join  hands 
in  an  untried  work  with  an  unknown  man.  He  prom- 
ised to  pray  over  it  and  talk  it  over  with  his  wife,  to 
whom  it  would  be  especially  a  heavy  cross.  But  be- 
fore the  convention  closed  at  Indianapolis  Moody 
and  Sankey  held  their  first  meeting  together,  in  the 
open  air,  at  which  the  former  preached  to  the  throng 
that  gathered  in  the  street,  and  the  latter  melted  them 
with  his  touching  melodies. 

Coming  to  Chicago  to  take  up  the  work  with  Mr." 
Moody  tentatively  for  a  week  or  two,  he  found  him- 
self so  abundantly  blessed  in  it  that  he  concluded  that 
the  invitation  given  to  him  was  a  real  call  of  God. 
A  little  incident  greatly  deepened  this  impression. 
After  the  Chicago  iire,  which  occurred  in  October, 
1871,  he  went  to  see  a  Sunday  school  scholar  lying 
very  sick,  in  a  family  which  had  lost  everything  by 
the  fire.  Knowing  that  she  was  soon  to  pass  away, 
he  asked: 

u  How  is  it  with  you  to-day?" 

"It  is  all  well  with  me  to-day,"  she  answered  with 
a  beautiful  smile.  "  I  wish  you  would  speak  to  my 
father  and  mother." 

"  But  are  you  a  Christian?"   said  he. 

"  Yes." 

"  When  did  you  become  one?" 

"  Do  you  remember  last  Thursday  in  the  Tabernacle, 
when  we  had  that  little  singing  meeting,  and  you 
sang  '  Jesus  loves  even  me?'  " 

"  Yes." 

"It  was  last  Thursday  I  believed  on  the  Lord  Je- 
sus,  and  uow  I  am  going  to  be  with  hi  m  to-day." 


REVIVALS   AND    SACRED    SON©-  347 

The  conversion  of  this  little  girl  deeply  affected 
Mr.  Sankey,  and  did  much  to  decide  him  to  give  his 
life  to  the  work  of  "  singing  the  gospel." 

When  Mr.  Moody  returned  from  his  second  visit 
to  England  in  the  spring  of  1872,  he  said  to  Mr. 
Sankey:  "  You  have  often  proposed  that  we  should 
go  out  evangelizing  together.  Xow  go  with  me  to 
England."  And  after  a  prayerful  consideration  of 
the  matter,  these  two  co-laborers,  whose  names  have 
since  become  famous  around  the  world,  set  sail  from 
New  York  to  begin  a  work  of  whose  magnitude  they 
did  not  dream. 

There  were  some  misgivings  at  lirst,  lest  his  new 
style  of  religious  songs,  his  abundant  use  of  solos, 
and  his  melodeon  might  awaken  opposition  in  the 
conservative  towns  they  visited;  especially  in  Scot- 
land, where  House's  version  of  the  psalms  seemed  al- 
most a  portion  of  holy  writ,  and  an  organ  was  to 
many  an  ungodly  contrivance.  But  the  songs  were 
so  full  of  the  gospel,  and  the  sincere  manliness  of 
the  singer  so  impressed  the  people,  and  his  rich  bari- 
tone so  carried  the  pith  and  pathos  of  the  hymns  into 
the  tingling  hearts  of  all  who  heard,  that  all  opposi- 
tion was  disarmed. 

Mr.  Sankey  himself  was  anxious  lest  his  singing 
should  be  a  failure  in  the  Highlands,  where  the  people 
were  especially  particular  as  to  the  character  of  their 
religions  music:  so  he  searched  with  eagerness  for 
some  hymn  that  might  be  especially  adapted  to  their 
tastes,  to  put  into  his  "  Musical  Scrap-Book."  At 
length  he  found  in  a  London  paper  a  little  poem  by 
Miss  Elizabeth    0.  Clephane,  of  Melrose,  Scotland. 


348  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

the  beautiful  hymn, — "The  Ninety  and  Nine."  A 
sweet,  wild  melody  at  once  wedded  itself  to  the 
words  in  his  mind,  and  he  sung  it  for  the  first  time 
in  the  great  congregation  without  ever  having  written 
it  out.  It  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  shepherds 
of  Scotland,  and  had  an  immense  popularity  among 
them,  as  well  as  everywhere  they  went. 

A  good  instance  of  the  power  of  the  new  sacred 
songs  was  aiforded  in  a  pious  Scotchman,  who  was 
troubled  because  they  were  so  unlike  the  psalms  in 
Rouse's  version.  He  took  his  trouble  to  his  pastor, 
in  considerable  distress,  saying:  "I  cannot  do  with 
the  hymns;  they  are  all  the  time  in  my  head,  and 
I. cannot  get  them  out.  The  psalms  never  trouble  me 
in  that  way." 

"  Yery  well,"  said  the  pastor,  "  then  I  think  you 
should  keep  to  the  hymns." 

So  powerfully  did  Mr.  Sankey's  singing  awaken 
spiritual  emotion  in  all  classes,  so  persuasively  did 
his  hymns  draw  men  to  the  cross,  that  the  stout 
est  opponents  of  "  man-made  hymns  "  relaxed  their 
antagonism.  That  which  was  obviously  blessed  of 
God  in  such  conversions,  must  be  good.  Dr.  Thom- 
son, of  Edinburgh,  said;  "  Those  who  have  come 
and  heard  have  departed  with  their  prejudices  van- 
quished and  their  hearts  impressed." 

The  Daily  Edinburgh  Beview  said:  "  Our  own 
Scottish  forefathers  made  a  notable,  if  not  altogether 
successful,  attempt  to  wean  the  population  from  the 
ribald  ballads  of  the  sixteenth  century,  by  substitut- 
ing wgude  and  godly  ballats  '  to  the  same  melodies, 
and,  as  far  as  might  be,  to  the  same  words. 


REVIVALS   AND   SACRED   SONG.  349 

"Yet  we  have  hardly  wakened  up  in  Scotland  to  a 
sense  of  the  importance  of  sacred  music,  notwith- 
standing all  the  efforts  made  during  the  past  twenty 
or  thirty  years.  In  a  good  many  Presbyterian  con- 
gregations the  psalmody  is  still  treated  as  a  bit  of 
convenient   padding   to  be  laid   between    the    more 

important  exercises  of  worship 

"Why  should  there  be  any  prejudice  [against  these 
new  methods]  1     For  generations  most  of  the  High- 
land ministers,  and  some  of  the  Lowland   ministers 
too,  have  sung  the  gospel, — sung  their  sermons,  aye, 
and  sung  their  prayers  too.      The  only  difference  is 
that    they   sing   very   badly   and  Mr.   Sankey    very 
beautifully.     He  accompanied  himself  on  the  '  Amer- 
ican Organ,'  it  is  true,  and  some  of  us  who  belong  to 
the   old   school   can't  swallow  the  '  kist  o'whustles' 
yet.     It  may  help  us  over  this  stumbling-block  if  we 
consider  that  with  the  finest  voice  and   ear   in   the 
world,  nobody  could  maintain  the  proper  pitch  of  a 
melody,  singing  so  long  as  Mr.   Sankey  does.     And 
then  the  <  American   Organ  '    is   '  only   a  little  one.' 
When  a  deputation  from  the  Session  called  on  Kalph 
Erskine  to  remonstrate  with  him  on   the   enormity 
of  fiddling,  he  gave  them  a  beautiful  tune  on  the  vi- 
oloncello, and   they  were  so  charmed  that  they  re- 
turned to  their  constituents  with  the  report   that   it 
was  all  right — '  it  wasna'  the  wee,  sinfu'  fiddle '  that 
their  minister  operated  upon,  but  a  grand  instrument 
full  of  grave,  sweet  melody.     I'm  afraid    some  good, 
true-blue  Presbyterians  will  be  excusing  Mr.  Sank- 
ey's  organ,  and  themselves    for   listening   to   it,   by 
some  such  plea  as  that." 


350  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

The  real  reason  why  that  stubborn  prejudice  was  so 
entirely  dissolved  under  this  singing,  was  that  as- 
signed by  Rev.  W.  Taylor,  of  Edinburgh:  "We  felt 
that  it  was  real  teaching.  Not  only  was  there  his 
wonderful  voice,  which  made  every  word  distinctly 
heard  in  every  corner  of  the  hall,  and  to  which  the  or- 
gan accompaniment  was  felt  to  be  merely  subsidiary, 
but  it  was  the  scriptural  thought  borne  into  the  mind 
by  the  wave  of  song,  and  kept  there  till  we  were 
obliged  to  look  at  it  and  feel  it  in  its  importance  and 
preciousness." 

Or,  as  one  of  our  own  writers  says:  "  His  singing 
is  a  sort  of  musical  oratory,  and  it  affects  or  influences 
people  as  an  oratorical  performance  rather  than  a  mu- 
sical one.  That  is  to  say,  Mr.  Sankey  touches  the 
same  chords,  arouses  the  same  feelings,  appeals  to 
the  same  emotions,  that  would  be  struck  or  aroused 
by  a  persuasive  speaker,  and  lie  sways  an  audience 
precisely  as  it  would  be  surged  by  a  man  of  rare  elo- 
quence." 

It  is  this  power  of  making  "every  hymn  a  gospel 
message"  that  makes  his  work  in  this  new  era  of  sacred 
song  so  pre-eminently  useful.  As  Mrs.  Barbour  says: 
'*  Mr.  Sankey  sinjj-s  with  the  conviction  that  souls  are 
receiving  Jesus  between  one  note  and  the  next.  The 
stillness  is  overawing;  some  of  the  lines  are  more 
spoken  than  sung.  The  hymns  are  equally  used  for 
awakening,  and  none  more  so  than  i  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth passeth  by.-  When  you  hear  the  '  Ninety  and 
Nine'  sung  you  know  of  a  truth  that  down  in  this 
corner,  up  in  that  gallery  behind  that  pillar  which 
hides  the  singer's  face  from  the  listener,  the  hand  of 


BETTY  A  LS    AND    SACRED  SONG.  351 

Jesus  has  been  finding  this  and  that  and  yonder  lost 
one,  to  place  them  in  his  fold.  A  certain  class  pf 
hearers  come  to  the  services  solely  to  hear  Mr.  Sankey 
and  the  son£  throws  the  Lord's  net  around  them." 

Abundant  testimony  shows  the  wonderful  effective- 
ness of  this  novel  use  of  sacred  song  in  Great  Britain. 
Rev.  Mr.  Morgan,  of  Scotland,  declared,  "  There  lias 
been  more  heart-singing  during  the  last  twelve 
months  than  for  a  whole  generation  before."  Jean 
Paul  said  that  heart-songs  would  make  the  face  of  the 
plainest  woman  beautiful;  but  they  will  do  more: 
they  will  melt  the  heart  of  those  who  listen.  A  young 
man  in  Birmingham,  Eng.,  said:  "  I  went  down  the 
other  night  just  to  see  what  the  fun  was;  and  before 
!  bad  been  there  long,  Mr.  Sankey  sang  something 
that  went  straight  to  my  heart.  So  now  1  am  a 
Christian  too."  In  the  Free  Trade  Hall  at  Manches- 
ter, a  workman  was  brought  under  deep  conviction 
by  the  singing  of  "  Safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus."  A 
Roman  Catholic  priest  in  Dublin,  ascribed  his  con- 
version to  the  power  over  his  heart  of  the  hymn, 
'Jesus  the  water  of  life  will  give."  In  Sunderland, 
Eng.,  after  a  sermon  by  Mr.  Moody  on  the  "  Prodigal 
Son,"  Mr.  Sankey  sang  with  great  pathos  and  earn- 
estness, 

"O  prodigal  child,  come  home!" 

When  the  meeting  closed,  there  pressed  into  the  in- 
quiry room  a  young  man,  whose  wild  and  dissipated 
life  had  been  the  sorrow  of  his  home,  and  throwing 
his  arms  about  his  father  and  mother  who  were  there, 
he  craved  their  forgiveness  and  God's,  and  consecrat- 


352  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

ed  himself  to  the  Christian  life.  That  song  reversed 
the  whole  current  of  his  life,  and  set  it  flowing  heaven- 
ward. 

The  same  teaching  and  persuading  power  of  his 
songs  has  been  manifested  in  this  country.  A  law- 
yer in  Philadelphia  was  led  to  devote  himself  to  the 
Savior  by  the  hymn,  "Almost  Persuaded."  Mr. 
Sankey  thinks  this  hymn  has  won  more  souls  to  the 
Savior  than  any  other  written  by  Mr.  Bliss. 

He  who  thus  makes  his  songs  the  most  eloquent 
and  powerful  sermons,  and  who  takes  them  as  grap- 
pling hooks  of  heaven  with  which  to  draw  souls  to  the 
Lord  of  Life,  may  well  teach  us  how  to  make  our 
sacred  music  more  effective.  Here  are  Mr.  Sankey's 
views  concerning  church  music:  "  It  should  be  con- 
ducted by  a  good  large  choir  of  Christian  singers  who 
should  encourage  the  congregation  to  join  heartily 
with  them  in  the  songs  of  Zion,  instead  of  monopolizing 
the  service  themselves.  I  would  have  the  singers  and 
organ  in  front  of  the  congregation,  near  the  min- 
ister; and  would  insist  on  deportment  by  the  singers 
in  keeping  with  the  services  of  the  house  of  God. 
The  conduct  of  the  choir  during  the  service  will  have 
very  much  to  do  with  the  success  of  the  preaching. 
Instead  of  whispering,  writing  notes,  passing  books 
and  the  like,  the  choir  should  give  the  closest  atten- 
tion to  all  the  services,  especially  to  the  preaching  of 
the  Word.  There  should  be  the  most  intimate  rela- 
tion between  the  leader  of  the  singing  and  the  pastor. 
Old  familiar  hymns  and  tunes  should  be  used,  and  now 
and  then  a  Sunday  school  song:  so  that  the  children 
may  feel  that  they  have  a  part  in  the  prayer-meeting  as 


REVIVALS   AND   SACRED   SONG.  353 

well  as  in  the  Sunday  school.  All  should  try  to  under- 
stand the  sentiment  of  the  hymn  or  sacred  song,  and 
enter  into  it  with  heart  and  voice  in  a  prayerful  frame 
of  mind,  silently  asking  God  to  bless  the  song  to  every 
soul." 

In  the  great  meetings  in  this  country  Mr.  Sankey 
has  given  us  a  good  illustration  of  what  he  would 
have  sacred  music  to  be.  In  the  Tabernacle  in  Brook- 
lyn he  was  sustained  by  a  well-trained  choir  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  voices;  this,  after  his  own  soul-pene- 
trating solos,  gave  variety  to  the  service  by  rendering  a 
sacred  song  alone,  or  by  leading  the  great  congrega- 
tion in  some  choral  of  praise.  In  Philadelphia,  a 
choir  of  five  hundred  singers  under  the  leadership  of 
Prof.  Fischer  gave  him  similar  assistance.  In  Chi- 
cago he  organized  a  similar  chorus  of  Christian  sing- 
ers  for  work  in  the  Tabernacle.  In  Boston,  Dr.  Eben 
Tonrjee,  director  of  the  largest  musical  conservatory 
in  the  world,  gathered  a  choir  of  about  two  thousand 
voices  which  he  separated  into  five  or  six  sections; 
and  with  one  of  these  led  by  himself  or  some  assis- 
tant, the  great  congregations  were  nightly  led  in 
swelling  the  great  tide  of  song  that  swept  heavenward, 
bearing  precious  souls  upward  on  its  great  billows  of 
holy  emotion. 

The  pre-eminent  characteristic  of  this  modern 
movement  is  its  bolder  and  freer  use  of  this  natural 
vehicle  for  the  expression  of  feeling,  in  arous- 
ing those  emotions  that  are  needed  for  a  healthy  and 
vigorous  religious  life.  A  cold,  didactic  presentation 
of  truth  is  not  enough;  it  must  be  truth  so  ablaze 
with  feeling  that  it  will  burn  through  all  indifiference? 


354  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

arouse  conscience,  kindle  aspiration,  persuade  obdu- 
ate  wills.  Whatever  words  glow  with  the  gospel 
spirit,  or  throb  and  tingle  with  the  sentiment  of  in- 
tense religious  devotion,  is  the  hymn  needed:  and 
whatever  touching  or  thrilling  melody  will  speed  it 
to  the  heart,  as  with  the  musical  twang  of  Apollo's 
bow,  is  the  tune  needed.  If  sometimes  the  hymns 
seem  too  ardent  and  rhapsodical,  we  are  to  remember 
that  they  may  not  be  so  for  the  most  exalted  hours  of 
the  soul.  As  Mr.  Beecher  says:  "  When  the  church 
is  coM  and  dead,  these  hymns  which  were  written  by 
God's  saints  in  moments  of  rapture  seem  extravagant, 
and  we  walk  over  them  on  dainty  footsteps  of  taste; 
but  let  God's  Spirit  come  down  upon  our  hearts,  and 
they  are  as  sweetness  to  our  tongues;  nay,  all  too 
poor  and  meagre  for  our  emotions;  for  feeling  is  al- 
ways tropical  and  seeks  the  most  intense  and  fervid 
expression." 

The  music  of  this  new  era  may  not  be  of  the  strong- 
est and  highest  order,  but  we  are  to  remember  that 
the  simplest  air,  surcharged  with  feeling,  is  often  far 
more  potent  to  stir  the  heart  than  a  complicated  har- 
mony. A  melody  with  strong  rhythmic  flow,  or  a 
refrain  with  its  repeated  pulsebeat  forcing  a  thought 
home,  will  often  be  more  effective  than  a  far  more  ar- 
tistic anthem.  What  a  ballad  is  to  an  epic,  these  lit- 
tle heart-songs,  so  useful  to  these  campaigns,  are  to 
the  oratorio.  We  need  them  both.  It  would  be  a 
grand  thing  if  we  could  have  rendered  with  the  high- 
est perfection  of  musical  skill,  Sunday  after  Sunday, 
"  I  know  that  my  Kedeemer  liveth,"  the  "  Hallelujah 
Chorus;,,  Mendelssohn's  "  Hymn  of  Praise,"  and  other 


BEVIVALS   AND    SACKED    SONG.  355 

noble  compositions;  but  we  should  still  want  those 
tenderer,  soul-melting  songs,  like  "  He  leadeth  me," 
or  "  I  need  Thee  every  hour." 

And  we  are  to  remember  what  one  of  the  foremost 
music  teachers  in  Philadelphia  has  said,  that  the 
Sunday  school,  in  its  use  of  these  simple  songs  of 
faith,  is  doing  more  to  make  the  American  people  a 
nation  of  singers  and  music  lovers  than  any  other 
agency.  As  has  been  well  said:  "Millions  of  chil- 
dren, every  Sunday,  are  drilled  in  the  elements  of 
music  and  vocal  culture,  and  in  their  earliest  years 
are  having  an  interest  awakened  in  thisheavenliest  of 
arts.  And  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  mention,  that  the  songs 
and  melodies  of  the  Sunday  school  have  driven  into 
disuse  nearly  all  the  cheap,  common  rhymes  and 
songs  which  were  once  so  prevalent.  And,  then,  to 
think  that  these  ballads  which  have  so  widely  dis- 
placed others,  are  songs  of  Jesus,  chimes  and  rhymes 
of  Christianity,  preludes  of  heaven  sung  into  millions 
of  young  and  tender  hearts,  hymned  and  hummed  in 
thousands  of  homes  all  up  and  down  the  hills  and 
valleys,  the  cities  and  hamlets  of  the  land;  sung  in 
the  hearing  of  men  and  women  who,  but  for  their^ 
would  never  have  heard  of  the  great  salvation,  What 
a  glory  and  blessing  is  this!" 


CHAPTER  XV. 

BIBLE   PREACHING,  BIBLE   READINGS   AND   BIBLE 
STUDY. 

The  Bible  of  necessity  holds  the  central  place  in 
every  genuine  revival  of  religion.  There  is  no  relig- 
ious awakening  without  religious  knowledge;  there 
is  no  religious  knowledge  without  the  Bible.  There- 
fore  Bible  study  in  some  form  and  to  some  extent  is 
supposed  in  every  true  work  of  grace.  When  Ezra 
the  Scribe  "  stood  upon  a  pulpit  of  wood  which  they 
had  made  for  the  purpose,"  and  read  the  law  from  the 
morning  until  mid-day,  and  caused  the  people  to  un- 
derstand the  book  of  the  law,  until  the  readings  and 
expositions  of  the  preacher  were  drowned  in  the  cries 
of  the  people,  there  was  a  thoroughly  Biblical  revival 
of  religion.  Then  the  "seed  of  Israel  separated 
themselves  from  all  strangers  and  stood  and  confessed 
their  sins,  and  the  iniquities  of  their  fathers."  Half 
1heir  entire  time  they  gave  to  revival  service,  and  it 
was  divided  equally  between  confession  (or  prayer) 
and  Bible  study. 

The  revival  at  Pentecost  was  also  a  revival  of  Bible 
truth.  It  was  the  keen  appreciation  of  Christ's  own 
teachings  and  promises  that  gathered  the  disciples  in 
the  "upper  chamber."     These,  waiting  together  there, 

850 


BIBLE    PREACHING,    ETC.  357 

had  an  express  word  of  Jesus  to  rest  upon.  Because 
they  believed  that  word,  they  were  in  that  circle  of 
meditation  upon  Divine  truth  and  expectation  of  the 
Divine  blessing,  when  the  Spirit  suddenly  fell  upon 
them.  The  great  revival  of  the  15th  and  16th  cen- 
turies, as  wide  as  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  extend- 
ing through  several  generations,  was  signally  a  Bible 
revival.  It  was  the  liberation  of  God's  truth  after 
the  bondage  of  ages;  and  wherever  it  went  it  set  the 
people  free  from  the  double  slavery  of  mind  and  con- 
science. The  revivals  in  our  own  country,  from  White- 
held  to  the  present,  have  been  the  result  in  less  or 
greater  measure  of  Bible  preaching.  And  yet  in  look- 
ing for  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  present  exten- 
sive work  of  grace,  the  most  obtrusive  fact  is  this, 
the  present  revival  is  pre-eminently  a  revival  of  Bible 
study.  This  is  the  day  when  God's  Word  is  magni- 
fied as  it  hardly  has  been  since  Martin  Luther  took 
down  the  Bible  from  the  library  shelves  at  Erfurth 
and  cried  out  in  the  hunger  of  his  soul,  "Oh!  that 
God  would  give  me  such  a  book  for  myself."  When 
Sir  Walter  Scott  lay  a-dying  he  said  to  Lockhardt, 
"  Give  me  the  Book."  "  What  book?"  inquired  his 
son-in-law.  "  There  is  but  one — give  me  the  Bible." 
This  age  is  repeating  the  noble  words  of  the  dying 
Scott. 

A  variety  of  influences  have  led  to  this  supreme  es- 
timate of  God's  truth.  The  intellectual  conflicts  with 
the  Bible  have  impressed  the  whole  thinking  world 
with  the  importance  of  a  right  understanding  of  that 
which  claims  to  be  the  oracles  of  God.  When  philos- 
ophy and  science  throw  their  challenging  lights  upon 


358  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

the  sacred  page,  those  to  whom  it  is  a  heritage  of 
heavenly  truth  study  that  page  with  a  profounder  in- 
terest. 

Again,  the  enlarged  missionary  operations  of  the 
church  have  given  a  revived  interest  to  the  study  of 
the  Word  which  promises  the  nations  for  Christ.  The 
moral  wants  of  the  world  growing  greater — as  science 
opens  up  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  nations — the 
intellectual  darkness  and  the  uncivilized  condition,  for 
which  the  Bible,  in  the  judgment  of  history,  is  the 
best  light  and  remedy,  press  with  peculiar  force  upon 
the  church  her  obligation  to  send  abroad  this  light 
and  truth. 

And  especially  the  uniform  lesson  series  of  the  In- 
ternational Sunday- School  Committee,  by  giving  to  all 
the  Christian  world  the  same  page  to  study,  and  by 
bringing  that  study  into  the  sphere  of  a  devout  religious 
science,  with  best  helps  and  best  methods,  has  stimu- 
lated such  thorough  popular  research  into  Bible  treas- 
ures as  the  world  has  never  witnessed  before.  It  has 
made  the  Bible  the  book.  It  has  placed  it  at  a  focus 
of  illumination  upon  Which  all  the  lights  of  history, 
philosophy,  science  and  criticism  are  made  to  fall.  It 
sets  it  in  a  blaze  of  the  world's  latest,  matnrest,  most 
critical  and  most  devout  thought.  On  the  side  of 
scholarship  as  well  as  on  the  side  of  religion,  the  Bible 
is  therefore  the  book  of  this  generation. 

The  spiritual  effect  of  such  study  is  obvious. 
There  can  be  no  enthusiastic  study  of  nature  without 
n  kindling  of  the  heart  under  its  beauty,  a  glow  of 
the  mind  under  its  order.  There  can  be  no  sustained, 
methodical  study  of  the  cosmos  of  God's  Word  with- 


BIBLE    PREACHING,    ETC.  359 

out  a  quickening  of  the  mind  under  its  beautiful 
progress  and  the  disclosures  it  makes  of  human  desti- 
ny; without  a  rising  of  the  heart  toward  those  themes 
and  interests  that  of  all  others  are  dearest  to  the  human 
heart,  and  are  touched  and  opened  to  human  vision 
only  by  the  hand  of  Revelation.  No  wonder,  there- 
fore, that  the  Bible  has  come  to  a  place  in  human 
thought  and  love  it  has  never  held  before.  The  move- 
ments of  human  history,  and  the  advance  of  learning 
among  men  throw  its  truths  into  ever  intenser  light  and 
ever  grander  perspective.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  a 
revival  coming  at  this  time  should  take  color  from  this 
Biblical  tendency  of  the  age,  and  should  be,  above 
all  others,  a  revival  of  Bible  preaching  and  Bible  in- 
quiry. There  are  three  directions  in  which  it  may 
be  well  to  inquire  of  the  Biblical  element  of  present 
religious  movements. 

I.    THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    PULPIT. 

The  preaching  of  the  first  few  centuries  was  wholly 
Biblical,  in  the  main,  was  an  exposition  of  an  epistle 
or  a  chapter.  During  the  dark  ages  there  was  not 
much  preaching  of  any  kind.  What  little  there  was, 
was  wholly  ecclesiastical,  a  preaching  not  of  the  gos- 
pel,  but  of  the  Church.  At  the  dawn  of  the  Reforma- 
tion the  preaching  was  again  Biblical,  but  soon  be- 
came theological,  a  defense  of  one  system  of  doctrine 
as  contrasted  with  another.  In  the  early  history  of  on; 
own  country  the  preaching  was  Biblical  in  form,  but 
dogmatic  and  severe  in  spirit.  During  the  past  thirty 
years  it  has  been,  as  to  its  form,  literary  rather  than 
Biblical,  and  as  to  its  substance  negative  rather  than 


360  TIMES  OF  REFRESHINGS 

positive.  The  pulpit  essay  took  the  place  of  the  hom- 
ily of  the  first  century,  the  theological  discussion  of 
the  sixteenth,  and  the  sharp  and  conscience-quicken- 
ing sermons  of  the  days  of  Edwards  and  Tennent. 
Against  this  tendency,  which  at  one  time  seriously 
threatened  the  spiritual  power  of  the  pulpit,  there 
has  come  within  the  last  few  years  a  sudden  and  com- 
plete reaction.  The  Bible  has  taken  its  old  place  as 
the  "beginning,  middle  and  end  of  effective  pulpit  dis- 
course. To  this  result  the  agencies  spoken  of  above 
have  contributed.  Preachers  who  had  tried  in  vain 
to  interest  their  audiences  in  discussions  of  science, 
literature  and  ethics,  discovered  that  they  were  giving 
a  secondary  place  to  what  the  people  were  beginning 
to  esteem  not  only  the  most  interesting,  but  the  most 
helpful  book  in  the  world.  The  pulpit  was  found  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  people,  not  as  it  sought  to 
vie  with  the  newspaper,  or  the  review,  the  lyceum  or 
lecture  course,  but  rather  as  it  ministered  to  the  popu- 
lar hunger  for  certain  knowledge  and  spiritual  food. 
Those  churches  were  found  to  be  best  attended,  as 
well  as  most  fruitful  in  good  works,  where  the  pulpit 
teaching  was  most  thoroughly  imbued  with  Scriptural 
truth  and  Scriptural  forms  of  the  truth. 

The  leading  evangelists  of  the  present  time  are 
greatly  to  be  praised  for  what  they  have  done  for  the 
church  and  the  ministry  itself,  by  enthroning  the 
Woid  of  God  in  its  supreme  place  in  the  pulpit.  At 
a  time,  when  so  many  of  the  educated  classes,  and 
some  even  within  the  churches,  in  the  name  of  cul- 
ture, advanced  thought  and  liberalism,  were  doing  so 
much    to    throw    discredit    on    the   Scriptures,    God 


BIBLE    PREACHING,    ETC.  361 

seemed  to  raise  up  from  the  ranks  of  the  people 
themselves  a  glorious  company  of  witnesses  to  speak 
from  their  own  experience  and  tell  a  rationalizing  age 
that  this  old  Book,  every  jot  and  tittle  of  it,  is  from 
God  and  shall  abide  forever.  It  is  notable  that  lay 
evangelism  has  given  prominence  to  the  Bible  on  the 
side  of  experience.  These  men  speak  not  the  things 
they  have  learned  out  of  books,  but  the  things  they 
have  felt  as  the}-  have  held  their  human  hearts  over  the 
mirror  of  divine  truth.  Their  message  is  not  of 
scholarship,  but  of  faith.  Their  cry  is  this:  "We 
believe,  therefore  we  speak."  To  them  the  Bible  is 
precious  beyond  all  else,  because  its  truths  have  been 
run  into  the  molds  of  their  daily  lives  and  wants. 
The  conviction,  so  deeply  wrought,  that  Bible- 
knowledge  is  the  best  of  all  knowledge,  and  that 
Bible-truth  is  more  than  a  match  for  all  that  can 
come  against  it,  is  now,  as  it  has  been  in  every  age,  a 
source  of  superhuman  power  to  those  who  hold  it. 

In  the  labors  of  Messrs.  Moody,  Whittle  and 
others,  not  only  is  the  Bible  the  center  and  circum- 
ference of  preaching,  but  there  is  never  detected 
throughout  it  the  shadow  of  a  doubt.  The  semi-skep- 
tical preachers  of  the  past  generation  have  made 
doubters  in  the  congregations.  The  whole-hearted 
faith  of  the  evangelists  in  the  entire  Word  of  God,  the 
uncompromising  demand  that  the  Bible  be  accepted 
as  God's  Word,  "  from  back  to  back,"  as  Moody  puts 
it,  has  given  new  faith  to  the  church  and  broken  the 
unbelief  of  many  a  skeptic.  In  this  they  are  walking 
in  the  steps  of  all  the  heroes  of  faith  from  Abraham 
down.     An  unqualified  faith  that  God  is,  and  that  He 


362  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him,  is 
said  to  he  the  condition  of  acceptable  prayer,  and  it 
is  equally  the  condition  of  efficient  religious  discourse, 
whether  in  public  or  private.  It  is  our  privilege  to 
say  as  did  our  divine  Master:  "We  speak  that  we  do 
know  and  testify  that  we  have  seen."  The  tone  of 
absolute  certainty  pervades  all  Paul's  preaching. 
"  Knowing,  therefore,  the  terrors  of  the  law,  we  per- 
suade men."  John  never  wavers.  Rocky  Patmos 
was  not  so  solid  as  his  spiritual  standing-ground  when 
he  cried  out:  "  This  is  the  true  God  and  eternal  life." 
In  regard  to  this  sustained  tone  of  religious  certainty, 
Mr.  Moody's  sermons  sound  like  Paul's.  He  never 
doubts  God,  he  never  doubts  the  truth  of  any  part  of 
God's  Word,  he  never  doubts  its  power.  To  him,  "It 
is  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God  unto  salvation."  We 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  this  is  one  of  the  prime  elements 
<>f  his  pulpit  success.  His  own  profound  conviction 
becomes  magnetic.  Faith  is  born  of  his  faith.  The 
hearer  becomes  ashamed  ever  to  have  doubted  a  word 
which  can  so  deeply  move  a  human  heart.  Here  is  a 
hint  of  the  evangelist's  successes  in  dealing  with  the 
Word  of  God  that  ought  not  to  be  lost  upon  the  min- 
istry of  this  time.  That  preacher  who  will  most  viv- 
idly preach  the  Bible,  is  the  preacher  who  will  have 
most  power  for  Christ.  And  by  preaching  the  Bible, 
we  mean,  in  the  first  place,  the  presentation  of  truth 
in  Biblical  forms.  In  one  sense  every  true  minister 
preaches  the  Bible.  That  is  to  say,  he  unfolds  the 
truths  that  are  in  the  Bible.  He  preaches  the  char- 
acter of  God  as  the  Bible  has  it.  He  holds  up  sin, 
and    condemns  it,  as  the  Bible  does.      lie  preaches 


BIBLE    PREACHING,    ETC.  363 

Christ  who  is  revealed  in  the  Bible.  And  so  around 
the  whole  circle  of  revealed  truth.  But  he  may  do  all 
this  in  forms  that  are  far  from  Biblical. 

He  may  present  these  truths  in  a  speculative  or 
purely  theologic  way,  as  parts  of  a  system,  rather  than 
as  parts  of  the  Bible.  His  message  may  leave  the  im- 
pression of  an  elaboration  of  a  connected  and  formu- 
lated theory,  rather  than  of  a  concrete  word  from  the 
mouth  of  God.  In  proportion  as  he  makes  prominent 
the  system,  in  which  the  ideas  inhere,  especially  in 
proportion  as  he  unfolds  them  in  the  language  of  the 
schools  more  than  of  the  Word  of  God,  is  he  shorn  of 
his  power.  God  honors  His  own  Word,  more  than 
the  human  philosophy  of  that  Word,  however  logical 
or  true  that  philosophy  may  be.  We  are  far  enough 
from  saying  the  minister  should  have  no  system  of 
divine  truth.  Every  severe  student  of  God's  Word 
will  necessarily  come  to  a  system.  But  though  the 
message  may  come  through  the  system,  let  it  be  as 
the  bullet  goes  through  the  rifle,  carrying  with  it  no 
mark  of  the  bore.  Let  the  truth  come  to  man  with- 
out taste  from  the  vessel  that  carries  it.  And  let  the 
preacher  so  imbue  his  mind  with  Biblical  forms  of 
statement  that  they  shall  come  first  to  his  lips.  God 
will  regard  the  honor  thus  put  upon  His  truth. 

This  will  secure  endless  variety,  freshness  and  vi- 
tality. It  will  secure  variety,  because,  though  the 
Bible  concretes  its  truth  around  one  center,  and  is 
therefore  thoroughly  systematic  and  logical,  it  gathers 
its  parts  from  every  phase  of  life  and  thought.  From 
it  the  grace  of  humility,  for  instance,  can  be  taught 
didactically  or  by  illustrations  in  the  lives  of  God's 


364:  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

people.  The  cross  of  Christ  can  be  presented  from 
the  standpoint  of  human  necessity,  or  the  revealed 
plane  of  Divine  love  and  purpose.  It  can  be  unfolded 
through  the  logic  of  Paul,  or  along  the  line  of  illus- 
trated history,  from  Abraham  to  Christ.  The  same 
theme  will  be  endlessly  di versified. 

It  will  secure  freshness  and  vitality  also,  because 
the  truth  will  not  be  presented  from  the  standpoint 
of  any  one  theory  or  experience,  but  it  will  be  seen  in 
the  manifold  workings  of  peoples  and  nations  through 
whom  it  has  risen  into  expression.  Love  can  be 
preached  from  the  life  of  John  with  a  vividness  pos- 
sible from  no  merely  didactic  exhibition  of  its  nature 
and  power,  for  the  simple  reason  that  back  of  every 
definition  or  judgment  is  a  real  human  life.  The 
truth  has  become  concrete  and  active  in  the  experi- 
ences of  a  life  like  our  own. 

This  leads  us  to  the  remark  that  the  best  preaching 
will  preach  the  whole  Bible.  Not  only  will  it  not  be 
the  formal  enunciation  of  propositions  or  evolution  of 
doctrine  on  the  line  of  a  system,  but  it  will  not  be  the 
preaching  of  any  one  book  or  part  of  the  Bible.  It 
will  not  exalt  the  discourses  of  Christ  to  the  forget- 
ting of  Paul's  Epistles,  nor  the  unfolding  of  Paul's 
Epistles  to  the  ignoring  of  that  Divine  life  on  which 
they  are  built.  It  will  not  be  the  preaching  of  the 
New  Testament  alone,  but  Old  and  New  Testament 
together,  and  as  mutually  complementing  each  other. 
The  "  law  and  the  prophets,"  so  largely  ignored  now, 
are  worthy  of  special  emphasis.  When  the  knife  of 
criticism  is  drawn  down  sharply  between  Malachi  and 
Matthew,  we  need  to  affirm,  with  urgent  emphasis, 


BIBLE   PREACHING,    ETC.  365 

the  oneness  of  God's  Word.  We  need  to  show  by 
Biblical  exposition,  that  the  Old  is  the  seed-thought 
of  the  New,  and  that  the  scheme  of  redemption  ad- 
vances as  logically  through  Jewish  history  as  it  does 
through  the  ministry  of  the  Apostles;  that  Abraham's 
place  in  the  sacred  march  is  as  essential  as  Paul's; 
and  the  uncertain  swaying  of  tabernacle  curtains,  or 
cloudy  pillar,  as  truly  part  of  the  on-coming  love  of 
God,  as  the  steady  light  of  Bethlehem's  star,  or  the 
tongues  of  flame  on  Apostles'  brows.  The  Divine 
Word,  the  foundation  of  the  Church,  as  against  mere- 
ly ethical  theories,  may  best  be  made  manifest  by 
preaching  the  whole  of  it  in  the  variety  of  its  truths, 
and  in  the  vitality  of  their  own  revealed  forms. 

.BIBLE    READINGS. 

Meetings  for  the  particular  kind  oi'  study  included 
under  this  head  were  introduced  into  this  country  by 
Mr.  Harry  Morehouse,  the  English  evangelist.  Con- 
verted in  a  circus,  under  the  preaching  of  some  lav- 
preachers  on  a  Sunday  night,  he  soon  after  gave  up  his 
business  and  devoted  his  time  to  evangelistic  work. 
He  is  a  man  of  one  book,  and  that  book  the  Bible. 
He  has  visited  this  country  four  or  five  times,  spend- 
ing several  months  each  time,  holding  evangelistic 
services  and  giving  Bible  readings.  From  Mr.  Head- 
ley's  book  on  evangelists  we  copy  the  following  de- 
scription of  him  and  services  which  he  held  in  Roch- 
ester a  few  years  ago: 

"Youthful  almost  to  boyishness  in  figure  and  ap- 
pearance, you  wonder  at  first  where  lies  the  spell  that 
draws  people  so  irresistibly.     But  one  look  into  those 


366  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

clear  grey  eyes  reveals  such  earnestness,  sincerity,  and 
perfect  transparency  of  soul,  you  trust  him  without 
an  instant's  questioning.  His  whole  face  wears  the 
calm,  untroubled  look  of  a  soul  at  perfect  rest  in  God. 
His  voice  is  clear  and  winning,  his  delivery  rapid,  es- 
pecially in  his  readings,  as  if  the  time  were  all  too 
short  for  what  he  has  to  say.  And  all  too  short  it  is 
for  those  who  hang  with  breathless  interest  on  his 
words. 

"A  full  and  free  salvation  he  preaches,  and  preaches 
with  all  the  earnestness  of  his  soul;  but  not  a  salva- 
tion that  involves  no  Christian  living.  In  this  he  is 
emphatic. 

"  His  readings  are  marvelous.  His  unbounded 
love  and  reverence  for  the  Bible,  and  its  constant 
study,  have  given  him  a  deep  insight  into  its  very 
heart.  And  the  freshness,  beauty,  and  originality  of 
thought  in  these  readings  are  a  constant  surprise, 
sometimes  making  every  verse  of  a  psalm,  that  from 
childhood  has  been  familiar  as  the  alphabet,  a  new  il- 
luminated text. 

ik  The  Hashes  of  genius  all  through  his  readings  and 
sermons;  the  wonderful  aptness  of  his  illustrations, 
driving  the  truth  home  irresistibly,  and  linking  both 
truth  and  illustration  so  perfectly  that  one  can  never 
be  recalled  without  the  other;  his  astonishing  memo- 
ry, that  carries  a  score  of  texts,  perhaps,  at  a  single 
reading,  scattered,  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  nam- 
ing book,  chapter,  and  verse,  that  the  congregation  may 
follow  him  in  their  own  Bibles,  and  not  a  bit  of  paper 
to  aid  his  memory,  and  never  an  instant's  hesitation 
in  recalling  a  text  or  expressing  a  thought  of  his  own 
— these  all  give  him  a  great  power  over  an  audience." 


BTBLE    PREACHING,    ETC.  367 

Mr.  Moody  says  he  is  under  a  lasting  debt  to  the 
boy  evangelist  for  giving  him  first  the  key  to  Bible 
study  and  Bible  preaching.  He  was  called  away  from 
home  to  attend  a  convention.  Mr.  Morehouse  had 
written  him  from  New  York,  that  if  he  so  desired,  he 
would  preach  for  him  on  Sunday.  Mr.  Moody  hesi- 
tated, but  having  no  other  arrangement  for  the  pul- 
pit, left  word  that  if  Mr.  Morehouse  came  along,  lie 
should  be  asked  to  preach  in  the  morning.  If  he 
made  a  failure  then,  the  deacons  were  to  make  some 
other  arrangement  for  the  evening,  or  hold  a  prayer- 
meeting.  Mr.  Morehouse  so  delighted  the  congrega- 
tion in  the  morning,  that  he  was  urged  to  preach  at 
night,  and  all  through  the  week.  This  he  did,  giving 
for  six  days,  one  continuous  sermon  on  the  text: 
"  God  so  loved  the  world/'  When  Mr.  Moody  came 
home,  Mr.  Morehouse  wTas  still  preaching  that  sermon, 
and  the  great  evangelist  heard  the  Boy  Preacher.  He 
was  so  impressed  with  the  young  man's  might  in  the 
Scripture,  that  lie  determined  if  possible,  to  find  out 
the  secret  of  it.  Somebody  had  advised  the  evangel- 
list  to  enter  upon  a  thorough  and  a  somewhat  exten- 
sive course  of  theological  reading.  This  advice  Mr. 
Morehouse  completely  upset.  He  said:  "Mr.  Moody, 
you  are  sailing  on  the  wrong  tack.  If  you  will 
change  your  course,  and  learn  to  preach  God's  words 
instead  of  your  own,  He  will  make  you  a  great  power 
for  good.  You  need  only  one  book  for  the  study  of 
the  Bible."  The  reply  was:  "You  have  studied 
many  books  to  gain  your  knowledge  of  it."  Mr. 
Morehouse  answered:  "No:  since  I  have  been  an 
evangelist  I  have  been  the  man  of  one  book.     If  a  text 


368  TIMES  OF  REFKESHING. 

of  Scripture  troubles  me,  I  ask  another  text  to  explain 
it;  and  if  this  will  not  answer,  I  carry  it  straight  to 
the  Lord." 

The  result  of  this  conference  was  a  Bible  Reading 
at  Mr.  Moody's  house, — probably  the  first  meeting  of 
this  kind  ever  held  in  America.  It  was  thebeg'nning 
of  a  series  that  has  been  since  productive  of  untold 
good. 

Rev.  George  C.  Need  ham,  a  young  Irishman,  who 
had  had  considerable  experience  in  various  parts  of 
Ireland  in  Bible  work,  came  to  America  in  1868,  and 
has  since  then  labored  both  East  and  West,  with  great 
acceptance,  both  as  an  evangelist  and  a  Bible  Reader. 
Several  years  of  his  residence  in  this  country  have 
been  spent  in  Canada.  A  leading  paper  of  the  Do- 
minion describes  him  thus: 

"Mr.  Needham's  accent  is  broadly  Irish;  he  is  ex- 
ceedingly fluent,  and  he  cannot  help  being  witty. 
Moody's  illustrations  are  not  more  rough  and  ready 
and  eccentrically  original.  In  appearance  he  is  young, 
fresh,  Spurgeon-looking,  almost  jolly, — a  man  one 
would  expect  to  find  very  genial  in  private  inter- 
course. His  sentiments  are  eminently  sound,  and  we 
should  judge  him  calculated  to  do  much  good." 

During  the  Great  Revival  in  Chicago  his  labors  in 
that  city,  and  in  towns  throughout  the  Northwest,  in 
company  with  George  C.  Stebbins,  resulted  in  a  very 
large  number  of  conversions. 

Bible  readings  have  certainly  given  addi- 
tional zeal  to  the  methodical  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. They  may  be  very  variously  conducted, 
and  the  interest  of  them  will  depend  almost  wholly 


BIBLE   PREACHING,    ETC.  369 

upon  the  leader.  There  is  much  that  passes  for  Bible 
reading  that  is  dry  and  unprofitable  enough.  A  good 
one  cannot  be  hastily  prepared  by  running  down  a 
column  of  Cruden's  Concordance.  The  enthusiasm 
that  has  been  aroused  in  some  parts  of  the  country  by 
the  means  of  Bible  readings  has  led  many  laymen, 
and  ministers  too,  to  the  hasty  conclusion  that  all  that 
is  necessary  to  make  a  Bible  reading  successful  is  to 
string  together  a  lot  of  texts,  in  which  the  same  Eng- 
lish Bible-word  occurs,  have  them  read  successively  by 
the  people,  and  linked  together  by  extemporaneous 
comment.  It  is  evident  this  kind  of  work  must  be 
not  only  heterogeneous,  but  often  misleading  as  to 
the  true  meaning  of  the  Scriptures.  There  is  indeed 
a  logical  progress  of  doctrine  in  the  Bible,  and  that 
progress  may  be  traced,  but  the  relations  between  the 
different  parts  cannot  always  be  determined  by  sepa- 
rate words,  still  less  by  the  words  of  the  English 
translation.  For  example,  he  who  should  give  a 
Bible  reading  on  the  word  "  Light,"  knowing  no  dis- 
tinction and  making  none  between  the  two  Greek 
words  used  in  the  New  Testament  to  designate  that 
light,  would  not  only  fail  in  a  beautiful  distinction, 
but  in  the  true  Scriptural  intent. 

There  is  another  peril  against  which  only  careful 
and  conscientious  preparation  can  guard.  It  is  the 
tendency  to  overstrained  analogies,  to  find  types, 
where  it  were  better  to  find  only  illustrations  of  di- 
vine truth.  Thus  a  Bible  Beading  on  the  Hebrew 
Tabernacle  may  be  made  more  interesting  than  truth- 
ful, by  finding  in  every  part,  color  and  form  of  that 


370  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

earliest  place  of  worship  a  prophecy  of  New  Testa- 
ment doctrine  and  worship. 

The  most  successful  Bible  Readers  in  this  country 
at  this  time  are  Messrs.  Moody,  Whittle,  Needham, 
Brookes,  and  Miss  Smiley.  With  Mr.  Moody  the 
topical  study  of  the  Bible  is  a  favorite  method.  Those 
who  have  heard  his  masterly  Readings  on  "The  Blood 
of  Christ,"  and  «  The  Holy  Spirit,"  will  not  soon  for- 
get the  unexpected  fullness,  richness  and  power  of  the 
Bible  on  these  subjects.  Speaking  of  the  advantages 
of  a  topical  study  of  the  Scriptures  over  the  careless 
reading  of  so  many  chapters  a  day,  Mr.  Moody  says: 
"  When  I  was  a  boy  I  used,  among  other  things,  to 
hoe  turnips  on  a  farm,  and  I  used  to  hoe  them  so 
badly  to  get  over  so  much  ground  that  at  night  I  had 
to  put  down  a  stick  in  the  ground  so  as  to  know  next 
morning  where  I  had  left  off.  That  was  somewhat  in 
the  same  fashion  as  running  through  so  many  chap- 
ters each  day.  A  man  will  say :  'Wife,  did  I  read  that 
chapter1?'  'Well,'  says  she,  'I  don't  remember,'  and 
neither  one  of  them  can  recollect.  Perhaps  they  read 
the  chapter  over  and  over  again,  and  they  call  that 
studying  the  Bible."  Pie  speaks  in  another  place  of 
studying  the  word  "  Love  "  for  several  weeks,  until 
he  became  so  full  of  the  subject  that  he  was  con- 
strained to  rush  into  the  street  and  tell  every  one  he 
met  of  the  wonderful  love  of  God. 

"Assurance"  is  another  favorite  topic  with  him, 
and  upon  which  he  has  given  many  a  forcible  Bible 
reading,  and  on  which  he  always  dwells  with  enthu- 
siasm. Speaking  of  the  third  chapter  of  1st  John, 
he  says:  "  There  is  assurance  for  you  again.     In  that 


BIBLE   PREACHING,    ETC.  371 

one  chapter,  six  assurances.  Every  truth  I  get,  my 
friends,  makes  me  lighter  and  lighter,  until  I  expect 
to  fly  away  by  and  by.  I  heard  Mr.  Aitken  one  day, 
and  he  told  us  about  a  boy  who  had  some  gas-bags 
fastened  around  him,  and  they  were  so  light  that 
when  he  came  to  a  hedge  or  ditch  he  had  only  just  to 
touch  the  bags,  and  away  they  carried  him  right 
over,  and  it  is  just  the  same  when  we  read  the  Bible. 
It  makes  us  lighter  and  lighter,  and  we  leap  over  the 
obstacles  in  our  way." 

There  is  hardly  a  limit  to  the  variety  that  may  be  in- 
troduced into  Bible  reading.  But  the  few  methods 
that  in  the  experience  of  the  past  few  years  seem  to 
have  been  most  fruitful,  are  first,  subject  study,  and 
second,  the  study  of  particular  haul's.  There  are 
many  well-informed  Christians,  for  example,  who 
know  very  little  about  the  historical  development  of 
leading  Scripture  doctrine.  Thus  faith  in  Abraham 
and  in  Paul,  and  in  all  who  believed  God  between 
those  two,  is  essentially  the  same.  Upon  its  nature 
the  changes  of  time  and  religious  progress  have  no 
effect;  yet  the  faith  of  Paul,  as  he  looked  up  to  the 
city  that  "hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker 
is  God,"  was  very  different  from  the  faith  of  Abraham, 
when,  a  dweller  in  tents,  he  rested  on  the  promise  of 
God,  which  He  illustrated  to  him  by  the  countless 
stars  that  hung  over  the  Arabian  desert.  Xothing 
can  be  more  interesting  than  to  follow  the  unfolding 
of  that  germ  of  faith  in  the  breast  of  the  "Fa- 
ther of  the  faithful "  in  Jewish  and  apostolic 
history.     So  with  all  the   other   doctrines   of  grace. 


372  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

They  all  come  out  of  the  shadows  of  types  and  cere- 
monies into  the  increasing  light  of  "  the  fullness  of 
time,"  and  to  follow  them  through  the  course  of  their 
natural  history,  is  not  only  to  help  us  to  a  richer 
knowledge,  but  a  deeper  experience. 

Similarly,  the  study  of  separate  books,  as  to  their 
structure,  central  design  and  their  relation  to  other 
books,  may  be  made  interesting  to  the  last  degree. 
Mr.  Moody  says,  in  1872  an  Englishman  asked  him  if 
he  ever  noticed  Job  was  the  key  to  the  whole  Bible, 
and  he  divided  it  for  him  into  seven  heads.  "  The  first 
head  is  a  perfect  man  untried.  That  is  what  God  said 
about  Job.  That  is  Adam  in  Eden.  The  second 
head  is,  "  Tried  by  adversity."  Job  fell  as  Adam  did. 
The  third  head,  "The  wisdom  of  the  world."  Wise 
men  tried  to  help  Job,  but  there  was  no  help  in  them. 
In  the  fourth  place,  in  comes  the  Days-man,  who  is 
Christ.  In  the  fifth  place  God  speaks,  in  the  sixth 
Job  learns  his  lesson,  and  in  the  seventh  God  restores 
him." 

But  whatever  plan  of  Bible  reading  he  adopted, 
there  are  three  essentials  to  the  best  success.  First, 
a  careful  preparation  that  will  not  only  arrive  at  the 
literal  or  surface  meaning,  but  also  at  the  spiritual 
intent  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Second,  the  judicious  use  of  illustration,  either 
from  the  Bible  or  Christian  experience  in  which  the 
truth  may  be  pictorially  set  before  the  mind,  and  so 
be  the  more  readily  retained. 

Third,  an  humble  and  constant  reliance  upon  the 
Divine  Spirit  for  guidance.     It  is  His  work  at  once 


BIBLE   PREACHING,    ETC.  373 

to  illumine  the  page,  quicken  the  mind  and  touch  the 
heart. 

III.    BIBLE    STUDY. 

There  are  some  advantages  in  a  social  study  of  the 
Bible  which  can  be  had  in  no  other  way.  Bible  classes 
and  Bible  institutes  have  a  place,  therefore,  that  cannot 
be  filled  by  Bible  preaching  or  reading.  The  latter  is 
the  product  of  one  mind  and  heart  in  their  relations 
to  divine  truth;  the  former,  the  study  of  many  minds 
and  the  experience  of  many  hearts.  Mr.  Moody's 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  thus  communicating  spirit- 
ual gifts  is  illustrated  by  his  persistent  habit  of  inter- 
viewing those  whom  he  meets  concerning  their  Bibli- 
cal and  spiritual  attainments.  "  What  is  the  best 
thought  you  have  had  to-day?"  u  What  do  you 
know  about  the  power  or  grace  of  Christ?"  "  What 
is  the  best  illustration  of  this  passage  of  gospel  truth?" 
These,  and  kindred  questions,  are  often  upon  his  lips 
when  he  is  in  the  company  of  Christian  friends.  The 
result  is  a  mind  richly  furnished,  as  much  by  the  fresh- 
est thoughts  of  those  around  him,  as  by  his  own  read- 
ing and  study.  John  Calvin  was  prepared  to  write  the 
"  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion  "  in  the  cottage 
of  a  pious  widow  in  Basle.  Destined  to  become  the 
grandest  instrument  for  the  defense  of  the  truths  of 
the  Reformation,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  live 
alone  with  God.  But  from  his  communion  with  the 
Bible,  he  ever  and  again  came  out  to  meet  his  friends 
on  the  hills,  and  communicate  to  them  the  fire  which 
burned  in  his  own  bones,  and  could  not  be  repressed. 
It  was  in  these   interviews  with  Du  Tillet,  Cop  and 


374  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

others,  Calvin  not  only  gave,  but  in  turn  received  new 
views  of  gospel  truth  to  be  embodied  in  his  books 
and  to  be  a  heritage  to  every  aire.  The  secret  conic r- 
ences  among  the  hills  of  Germany  and  France,  which 
like  beacon  fires  kindled  the  darkness,  till  the  land 
was  aglow,  give  fine  illustrations  of  what  a  power 
God's  truth  becomes,  when,  having  been  fused  in  a  hu- 
man heart,  it  falls  in  fiery  earnestness  from  human 
lips.  It  was  social  study  of  the  Bible,  following  pro- 
foundest  secret  meditation  that  set  Europe  on  fire  for 
God.  Not  much  wras  due  to  the  press,  and  pulpit  elo- 
quence was  suppressed,  but  in  Bible  classes  a  spirit 
was  born  which   shook  the  throne  of  St.  Peter. 

During  the  past  few  years  a  new  impulse  has  been 
given  to  the  comparative  study  of  the  Word  of  God. 
Not  only  are  there  more  Bible  classes  and  Bible  insti- 
tutes, but  the  investigations  in  them  have  an  ever- 
increasing  range  and  depth. 

Let  us  suppose  the  formation  of  a  Bible  club  of 
earnest,  intelligent  persons,  meeting  regularly  to  study 
the  Bible  from  different  standpoints.  They  will  look 
at  it  as  a  book  of  the  literature  of  different  ages,  as 
an  inspired  history  of  religion  on  earth,  and  as  God's 
message  of  love  to  a  lost  wrorld.  They  will  perhaps 
assign  subjects  from  time  to  time,  or  parts  of  sub- 
jects to  different  members,  according  to  their  fit- 
ness to  investigate  and  speak  upon  the  same.  Some 
of  the  manifest  results  will  be — 

First,  a  wider  knowledge  than  individual  .study 
could  give.  Most  of  us  are  limited  in  our  time.  We 
are  further  limited  in  the  helps  at  command.  The 
whole  range  of  literature  throws  side-lights  upon  the 


BIBLE   PREACHING,  ETC.  375 

Bible's  advancing  thought.  No  one  of  us  has  time, 
means  or  taste  to  surround  himself  with  the  vast 
number  of  helps  in  science,  sacred  geography,  in  his- 
tory, art,  and  modern  research.  But  in  a  large  circle 
ot'  intelligent  persons  some  may  be  found  who,  ac- 
cording to  taste  or  opportunity,  can  investigate  and 
condense  the  best  of  human  helps  upon  parts  of  sub- 
jects, and  in  a  few  moments  present  to  others  what 
they  perhaps  never  could  reach  for  themselves.  Sup- 
pose an  evening  be  given  to  studying  the  Confusion 
of  Tongues.  To  the  geographical  member  of  the 
club  let  there  be  assigned  an  exercise  in  drawing  the 
migrations  of  the  race  down  to  the  central  basin  of 
Asia,  the  probable  location  of  Babel  and  the  general 
movements  of  the  separated  people  thereafter.  An- 
other, who  is  versed  in  Max  Muller,  may  give  an  es- 
say on  the  science  of  language,  and  the  evidences  that 
in  many  roots  point  to  a  tap-root  of  common  origin. 
And  to  another  may  be  assigned  a  Bible  reading  of 
all  the  passages  bearing  upon  the  subject,  closing 
with  a  comparison  or  contrast  of  Babel  and  Pente- 
cost. In  some  such  way  into  an  hour  will  be  compressed 
what  no  one  could  reach  in  a  day  or  a  week,  and  with 
the  knowledge  thus  gained  there  will  be  the  glow 
which  comes  with  the  man,  who,  for  a  purpose,  has 
been  engaged  in  such  stimulating  investigation. 

A  second  advantage  of  social  study  of  Scripture  is 
in  that  you  have  knowledge  illuminated  by  life  and 
experience.  The  Bible  is  richer  to  us  than  to  the 
ancients,  by  all  the  addition  of  Christian  life  that 
gathers  around  it  and  has  been  sustained  by  it.  The 
famous  hanging  gardens  of  Babylon  with  bloom  and 


376  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

fruitage  in  rich  profusion  a  hundred  feet  in  the  air 
were  sustained  by  arch  on  arch  of  solid  masonry.  The 
interlocking  arches  of  divine  truth  hold  up  the  bloom 
and  fragrance  and  fruit  of  eighteen  centuries  of  church 
history.  If  over  the  world's  desert  stretch  there  is 
borne  the  odor  of  rose  and  lily,  and  if  in  the  evening 
air  of  old  age  there  gleams  the  waving  of  a  palm  of 
triumph,  it  is  no  mirage  of  sentiment.  It  is  the  up- 
lifted glory  of  truth,  it  is  the  masonry  of  God,  which 
in  the  upper  air  of  Christian  living  opens  in  the  flow- 
ers of  faith  and  hope  in  God.  This  beautiful  transi- 
tion of  truth  into  character,  goes  on  in  every  Chris- 
tian heart.  So  when  a  company  of  disciples  confer  to- 
gether about  the  Bible,  they  do  more  for  the  truth 
than  a  commentator  can.  They  reveal  the  colors  into 
which  it  has  been  transmuted.  Their  hearts  burn. 
Spiritual  life  is  the  tide  that  bears  the  Word  into  the 
sunlight  of  clearest  understanding.  You  have  the 
thoughts  of  God  illustrated  by  the  lives  of  those  who 
in  various  circumstances  have  tried  them.  And  as 
life's  circumstances  run  through  an  almost  infinite 
range,  a  circle  of  Christian  hearts  can  throw  lights 
from  many  points,  all  of  which  no  one  in  the  company 
had  ever  reached. 

There  is  an  art  called  photo-sculpture.  The  cast  is 
made  by  throwing  light  upon  the  object  from  a  vast 
number  of  surrounding  points.  This  brings  the  sub- 
ject into  prominence.  So  if  upon  any  Bible  topic  be 
thrown  the  revealing  light  of  experience  from  life  on 
many  sides,  it  will  rise  out  of  the  level  of  truths  by 
which  it  is  surrounded,  it  will  stand  like  sculpture  in 
the  gallery  of  God's  Word.     "  Then  they  that  loved 


BIBLE    PREACHING,    ETC.  377 

the  Lord  spake  often  one  to  another."  Oh!  for  more 
commentaries  that  have  blood  and  breath ;  for  a  social 
frankness  in  religion  that  will  prompt  us  to  put  our 
souls  as  well  as  our  thoughts  into  expressions.  Then 
our  words  would  burn  as  a  torch. 

This  leads  to  the  third  advantage,  with  a  word  con- 
cerning which  we  close  this  chapter.  The  prayerful 
study  of  God's  Word  in  companies  has  been  a  power- 
ful promoter  of  revivals  of  religion.  It  is  the  law  of 
grace  that  the  truth  should  move  most  mightily  on 
the  line  of  social  spiritual  influence.  God  has  or- 
dained that  men  shall  convert  others  by  talking  the 
truth.  Printing  presses  will  not  do.  We  must  have 
heart  to  heart.  Angels  would  not  do.  We  must  have 
the  interchanges  of  human  life.  More  than  one  re- 
vival has,  during  the  past  year,  grown  out  of  Bible 
Eeaiings.  The  Bible,  like  the  sun,  and  Christian 
life  freely  communicated,  like  the  moon  reflecting  the 
sun,  will  together  lift  that  tide  wave  of  spiritual 
power  on  which  souls  will  be  carried  toward  God. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

INQUIRY  MEETINGS:  NECESSITY  FOR;  OBJECTS  OF; 
WORKERS  IN;  WHEN  TO  HAVE,  AND  HOW  TO 
CONDUCT  THEM. 

Inquiry  meetings,  properly  so-called,  may  be 
counted  among  the  new  methods  of  the  past  fifty 
years.  Of  course  the  essential  idea  of  such  a  meeting 
is  as  old  as  religion.  As  Mr.  Moody  would  say, 
whenever  a  Christian  and  a  sinner  have  a  conversa- 
tion on  the  subject  of  personal  religion,  you  have  an 
inquiry  meeting.  Philip  and  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch 
had  an  inquiry  meeting  in  that  chariot,  when  the 
truth  of  the  fifty- third  chapter  of  Isaiah  found  the 
high  officer  of  the  Egyptian  court,  and  he  went  on 
his  way  rejoicing.  Christ  and  Kicodemus  had  such  a 
meeting.  It  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  influences  that 
changed  the  timid  Jew  into  a  brave  Christian.  Christ 
and  the  woman  at  the  well  had  such  a  meeting,  the 
fruits  of  which  brought  a  great  company  of  Samari- 
tans to  the  feet  of  Jesus.  The  young  man  came  to  the 
Savior  with  the  world's  old  question:  u  What  shall  I 
do  to  inherit  eternal  life?"  and  there  was  an  inquiry 
meeting,  though,  alas!  so  far  as  we  know,  without  sav- 
ing result.  A  similar  conversation  meeting  was  held 
in  open  court  once,  when  the  judge  on  the  bench  said 
to  his  chained  prisoner:     "Almost  thou  persuadest 

878 


INQUIRY   MEETINGS.*  379 

me  to  be  a  Christian,"  and  the  noble  answer  was  given : 
"Would  God  that  not  only  thou,  but  all  that  hear  me 
this  day,  were  not  only  almost,  but  altogether  such  as 
I  except  these  bonds." 

But  inquiry  meetings  in  the  present  and  technical 
sense  of  the  words,  are  of  modern  origin.  We  do  not 
read  of  them  in  the  early  continental  revivals.  We 
do  not  hear  of  them  in  the  days  of  Whitefield,  in  our 
own  country.  A  "  second  meeting,"  in  which  the 
persons  present  are  divided  into  two  classes,  the  anx- 
ious, and  those  who  are  there  to  lead  the  anxious  to 
the  Savior,  is  one  of  the  methods  recently  adopted  for 
deepening  the  impress  of  the  truth,  and  leading  the 
hesitating  to  decision.  Dr.  Humphrey,  in  his  very 
admirable  "Revival  Sketches  and  Manual,"  speaks  of 
the  origin  of  inquiry  meetings  thus: 

"  When  they  were  first  introduced  among  the  means 
which  God  has  been  pleased  to  own  in  the  glorious 
'  times  of  refreshing  from  his  presence,'  I  do  not 
know.  Where  the  Lord  has  poured  out  his  Spirit, 
good  ministers  have  always  encouraged  inquirers  to 
come  to  them  for  personal  conversation  and  advice, 
either  singly  or  several  together;  but  where  a  great 
many  awakened  sinners  have  needed  their  attention 
at  the  same  time,  they  have  found  it  impossible  to 
meet  them  all,  and  say  even  a  few  words  to  them  at 
the  critical  stages  of  their  need  of  instruction — perhaps 
the  turning-point  of  their  immortal  destiny.  The 
question  was :  '  Can  any  thing  be  done  to  bring  all  the 
inquirers  within  our  reach,  so  that  in  a  single  hour 
we  may  learn  the  state  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  anxious 
souls,  that  demand  our  immediate  attention?     At  this 


380  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

critical  point,  God  put  it  into  the  heart  of  somebody, 
no  matter  who  or  where,  to  invite  all  who  were  anx- 
ious to  meet  their  pastor  at  a  given  time  and  place. 
It  was  found  that  in  this  way  the  desired  object 
might  be  accomplished  without  taking  time  which 
could  not  be  spared  from  other  duties  that  always  press 
hard  during  a  revival.  In  the  great  revivals  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  I  neither  saw  nor 
heard  of  such  inquiry  meetings  as  we  are  all  now  fa- 
miliar with.  Indeed,  my  first  acquaintance  with  them 
was  about  1817,  it  might  be  a  little  earlier,  when  Mr. 
Nettleton  was  in  the  midst  of  his  remarkable  career, 
going  from  place  to  place  in  the  shining  armor  of  his 
mission,  "  the  Lord  working  mightily  with  him," 
wherever  he  went.  He  held  inquiry  meetings  (anx- 
ious meetings  as  he  called  them),  and  felt  that  in  the 
midst  of  a  large  revival  he  could  not  do  without  them. 
Other  highly  favored  servants  of  the  Lord,  ever  since 
this  day,  have  felt  so;  and  such  inquiry  meetings  as 
he  held  are  now  almost  as  firmly  established,  where 
God  pours  out  his  Spirit,  as  special  meetings  for 
prayer." 

When  we  consider  the  personal  character  of  thegos 
pel,  and  that  the  end  of  it  is  always  to  persuade  men, 
it  is  wonderful  that  inquiry  meetings  were  not  earlier 
adopted  as  part  of  all  revival  work,  and  that  they  are 
not  in  more  common  use  among  us  at  the  present 
time.  The  necessity  for  them  is  most  manifest.  It 
lies  in  the  nature  of  the  gospel  and  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  human  mind. 

1.  The  nature  of  the  gospel  supposes  the  personal 
impact  of  one  mind  upon  another.      The  line  of  per- 


INQUIRY    MEETINGS.  381 

sonal  endeavor  is  the  only  one  recognized  in  the  gos- 
pel. The  Church  has  often  glided  away  from  this 
idea  and  fallen  into  weakness  and  utter  inefficiency  by 
reliance  upon  theories  which  regard  men  only  in  the 
aggregate.  At  one  time  Christianity  sought  to  make 
progress  by  general  announcements  from  thrones  of 
civil  power,  and  strove  to  wheel  men  into  the  King- 
dom by  battalions  and  regiments  under  pressure  of  a 
general  order.  At  another  time,  at  the  call  of  ideas 
or  principles,  the  same  end  has  been  proposed,  and 
systems  of  culture  have  stood  in  place  of  individ- 
ual approach  and  personal  influence.  On  either  path 
there  has  been  only  failure,  as  there  must  ever  be  on 
any  road  that  so  directly  antagonizes  the  nature  of  the 
gospel  and  the  methods  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  gos- 
pel's impeachment  is  always  this:  "Thou  art  the 
man;"  its  call  is  always  this:  "Believe  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved;  "  its  appeal  to  every  Christian  is  this: 
"Where  is  thy  brother?"  To  every  speculative 
question  about  the  Savior,  it  has  one  answer:  "Come 
and  see."  The  genius  of  it  is  clearly  set  forth  in  the 
h'rst  chapter  of  John,  where  Christ  speaks  to  two  dis- 
ciples, inviting  them  to  a  personal  interview,  where  one 
of  the  two  then  finds  his  own  brother  Simon,  and 
brings  him  to  Jesus;  where,  again,  the  Savior  finds 
Philip,  and  calls  him  by  the  familiar  command:  "Fol- 
low me,"  while  this  new  convert  proves  his  devotion 
by  at  once  finding  Nathaniel  and  bringing  him  under 
the  power  of  Jesus' personal  presence.  The  measure 
of  success  in  spreading  the  gospel  is  in  the  vigor  with 
which  this  fundamental  idea  is  grasped.  Christ  did 
less  of  preaching  than  of  personal  seeking  and  saving 


382  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

of  that  which  was  lost.  In  all  his  teachings  likewise, 
the  idea  of  man  for  man  comes  sharply  out.  Is  there 
one  lost  piece  of  silver?  the  house  is  swept  to  find 
it;  one  lost  sheep?  the  ninety  and  nine  are  left  that 
the  one  may  be  found. 

2.  The  very  constitution  of  the  human  mind  enforces 
the  supreme  value  of  personal  religious  work.  There 
are  many  avenues  of  approach  to  the  human  heart, 
but  the  narrow  path  of  brotherhood  is  the  straightest 
and  shortest.  Moral  influence  is  at  its  highest  when 
it  moves  from  one  heart  to  another.  Therefore  a  gen- 
eral proclamation  often  fails,  when  a  personal  word  is 
at  once  persuasive.  How  often  do  ministers  hear 
words  like  these:  "I  could  resist  your  sermons,  I 
could  shake  off  the  influences  of  public  worship,  I 
could  answer  the  books  I  read,  or  quietly  let  them  go 
without  answer;  but  there  was  one  life  in  my  house, 
an  humble  consistent  Christian  life,  perhaps  only  an 
example,  perhaps  an  example  intensified  by  wise  and 
loving  words  of  entreaty;  for  this  there  was  no  an- 
swer, from  its  presence  I  could  not  fly,  from  its  power 
1  could  not  hide,  and  I  have  yielded  to  the  irresisti- 
ble persuasion  of  a  godly  life  by  my  side."  God  has 
adjusted  every  moral  force  in  the  universe  for  the 
purpose  of  accelerating  the  progress  of  truth.  Chi*'!' 
among  these  moral  forces  are  those  which  lie  in  the 
line  of  human  and  natural  affections.  The  gospel  gets 
an  impulse  in  passing  through  a  human  heart  which 
it  could  not  have  if  it  were  shot  through  the  li|»  oi' 
an  archangel.  Therefore  God  has  made  every  Chris- 
tian a  priest,  to  minister  at  the  grand  altar  of  human 
life,  and  to  bring  human  hearts  into  the  presence  of 


INQUIRY   MEETINGS.  383 

the  Lord.  At  last  we  learn  of  Jesus  only  by  per- 
sonal faith,  but  the  determination  to  that  faith  God 
has  ordained  should  come  through  the  life  or  words 
of  a  brother.  The  Samaritans  from  Sychar  believed 
at  last  from  personal  contact  with  Jesus,  but  they 
were  led  to  that  contact  by  the  personal  appeal  of  a 
sinner  like  themselves.  Level  lines  of  influence  are 
strongest.  Therefore  God  has  not  sent  angels  to  win 
men;  and  therefore  He  has  set  the  mark  of  hio-hest 
wisdom,  not  on  those  who  gain  empires,  either  in 
physical  or  mental  realms,  but  on  those  who  win  souls 
from  death. 

The  germ  of  an  inquiry  meeting  is,  then,  in 
the  nature  of  the  gospel,  and  in  the  nature  of  human 
influence.  The  appreciation  of  its  value  will  con- 
stantly rise  as  the  Church,  descending  from  theories, 
realizes  the  secret  of  Christ's  method,  and  with  sin- 
gleness of  purpose  and  under  pressure  of  love  and 
sympathy  goes  forth  on  the  sublime  mission  of  seek- 
ing the  lost. 

OBJECTS  OF  THE  INQUIRY  MEETING. 

Let  us  set  before  our  minds  the  precise  ends  to  be 
sought  in  meetings  for  inquiry.  The  author,  from 
whom  we  have  already  quoted,  marks  two  chief  ob- 
jects of  such  meetings.  They  are,  first,  to  ascertain 
the  actual  state  of  the  revival,  and  secondly  to  drop 
into  the  ear  of  the  inquirer  such  advice  as  may  at  the 
time  be  needed.  Perhaps  we  shall  be  only  expanding 
the  end  in  view  in  his  mind  in  the  second  object  stat- 
ed above,  if  we  say  the  two  purposes  of  an  inquiry 
meeting  are,  first  instruction,  and  secondly ,  decision. 


384  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

The  whole  of  the  Gospel,  as  it  stands  related  to  par- 
ticular minds,  cannot  be  put  into  the  brief  formula  of 
Paul's  charge  to  the  jailor,  "Believe  and  be  saved." 
That  is,  indeed,  the  heart  of  it.  But  it  has  essential 
relations  to  knowledge,  experience  and  feeling  in  in- 
dividual cases.  Hence  the  value  of  an  inquiry  meet- 
ing oil  the  side  of  instruction.  The  pulpit  rings  forth 
its  call  to  faith.  It  is  the  voice  of  John  the  Baptist, 
saying  to  John  and  Andrew:  "Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God."  But  that  voice  falls  with  varying  tone  and 
meaning  upon  the  individuals  of  the  congregation. 
Therefore,  the  "  second  meeting  "  is  needed.  A  place 
for  personal  inquiry,  where  John  and  Andrew  may 
have  the  instruction  suited  to  the  special  needs  of 
each.  One  understands  his  condition  as  a  sinner, 
but  does  not  apprehend  the  truth  of  the  atoning  sac- 
rifice of  Christ.  His  faith  needs  its  object  set  clearly 
before  him.  Another,  sensible  of  sin  in  a  general 
way,  feels  no  sense  of  condemnation.  He  needs  to  be 
led  to  Sinai.  And  so  through  a  very  wide  range  of  ex- 
periences. An  ideal  inquiry  meeting  will  not  only 
present  Bible  truth,  but  that  truth  modulated  and 
adapted  to  each  special  case.  It  will  be  the  truth, 
imt  only  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  but  as  it  is  and  needs  to  be 
in  the  sinner's  heart.  The  minister  in  the  pulpit  is 
the  lecturer  on  the  principles  of  God's  remedial  sys- 
tern,  and  their  fitness  for  all  human  sorrows.  The 
minister  in  the  inquiry  room  is  the  physician  in  the 
wards  of  the  hospital. 

The  second  object — we  do  not  hesitate  to  say  the 
principal  and  final  object — of  the  inquiry  room,  is  to 
lead  to  instant  decision.     To  this  statement  there  are, 


INQUIRY   MEETINGS.  385 

of  course,  exceptions.  There  may  be  some  people 
within  the  influence  of  every  revival  so  ignorant,  so 
careless  and  unconcerned,  that  they  are  not  ready  to 
be  urged  to  an  immediate  surrender  to  Christ.  But, 
usually,  those  who  linger  at  an  inquiry  meeting  are 
already  more  or  less  affected  by  the  truth  and  con- 
cerned for  their  souls.  Their  very  presence  in  a 
meeting  that  has  been  properly  called  for  inquiry  as- 
sumes as  much.  And  usually,  also,  they  have  al- 
ready been  instructed  in  the  fundamental  truths  of  the 
gospel.  They  have  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  relig- 
ious truth  and  influence.  They  know  their  duty. 
Instruction  they  need  to  meet  particular  difficulties, 
a  clearer  knowledge  of  the  plan  of  salvation, — as  all  of 
grace  and  at  once  accessible, — they  may  also  need. 
This  knowledge  being  imparted,  the  remaining  ob- 
ject of  the  meeting  for  inquiry  is  to  reach  the  point 
of  surrender.  In  very  many  cases  the  difficulties  that 
seem  to  obstruct  the  inquirer's  path  are  conjured  up 
almost  unconsciously  to  postpone  this  one  urgent  step. 
The  anxious  person  should,  therefore,  be  taught  that 
to  be  almost  persuaded  is  to  be  lost;  that  no  dutvean 
come  between  the  soul  and  its  decision.  Unless  all 
of  instruction  and  appeal  gathers  around  this  one 
point,  there  is  clanger  that  the  inquiry  meeting  may 
lose  its  power  and  come  to  be  regarded  merely  or 
mainly  as  a  Bible  class  for  religious  instruction.  The 
idea  that  should  guard  its  doors  is  this:  those  who  en- 
ter there  have  come  for  earnest,  close  and  decisive 
work  in  regard  to  the  present  salvation  of  their  souls. 
If  it  be  inquired  whether  there  may  not  be  some 
peril    in   urging  sinners   to    decision,  for  fear  it  may 


386  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

prove  to  be  premature,  we  reply,  instruction  as  to 
sin  and  salvation  being  supposed,  there  can  be  no 
premature  decision.  Unbelief  is  sin.  Out  of  that 
sin  there  is  only  one  way — through  the  gate  of  faith. 
The  angels  that  hurry  Lot  from  Sodom  to  Zoar  can- 
not be  too  importunate.  One  of  the  secrets  of  the 
success  of  Moody,  Whittle  and  others  is  in  the  stress 
laid  upon  this  point.  The  inquiry  room  is  the  k"  val- 
ley of  decision."  With  tremendous  insistance  the 
mind  of  the  inquirer  is  held  upon  the  fact  that  he 
must  now  either  accept  or  reject  salvation  and  that  from 
that  solemn  alternative  there  is  absolutely  no  escape. 
AVhen  such  an  issue  is  clearly  seen  to  be  joined,  it 
the  soul  is  at  all  impressed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  the 
necessity  tor  an  immediate  acceptance  of  Christ  be- 
comes most  imperative.  If  the  soul,  then,  be 
urged  to  the  supreme  choice  intelligently  and  lov- 
ingly, it  can  hardly  be  done  too  earnestly  or  decisive- 
ly. Amid  the  truths  and  obligations  of  Christian- 
ity, the  gathering  illumination  of  eighteen  centuries 
and  the  present  moving  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  the 
word  that  needs  to  be  blazed  persistently  before  the 
eyes  of  hesitating  sinners,  is  Non\ 

WORKERS  IN  INQUIRY  MEETINGS. 

Not  every  converted  person  is  tit  to  guide  every  in- 
quirer.     A  few  brief  suggestions  may  be  helpful. 

1.  It  is  assumed  in  those  who  enter  the  inquiry 
room  as  workers,  that  they  have  not  only  accepted 
Christ,  but  also  that  they  have  studied  God's  Word 
with  a  view  to  make  the  King's  highway  plain  to 
others.     The  sick-room   is  not  the  place  for  blunder- 


INQUIRY   MEETINGS.  387 

ing  experiments.  The  inquiry  room  is  a  place  where 
minds  are  alert  and  hearts  are  sensitive  regarding  the 
most  precious  subjects  of  thought  and  feeling  in  all 
the  universe.  lie  who  would  speak  there  needs  per- 
sonal experience  of  the  grace  of  God,  unquestioning 
faith  in  the  Bible  and  knowledge  of  its  truths.  Spe- 
cially should  the  worker  have  well  in  his  mind  those 
passages  that  clearly  set  forth  the  sinner's  guilt  and 
tiic  Saviors  love  and  mercy. 

2.  The  worker  needs  a  tender,  Christ-like  love  foi 
ton  Is.  This  opens  the  door  of  the  'inquirer's  heart. 
Be  faithful  with  souls,  but  let  fidelity  to  truth  always 
have  the  crown  of  love. 

3.  Let  the  fitness  of  things  rule  in  the  inquiry 
room.  God  can  overrule  a  blundering  approach  to 
an  anxious  soul  for  that  soul's  salvation.  But  he  usu- 
ally works  through  a  subtle  law  of  adaptation.  The 
path  that  law  has  smoothed  is  the  path  on  which  ho 
commonly  walks.  Souls  in  his  presence  have  equal 
dignity  and  value.  But  there  are  diversities  of  .sta- 
tion, culture  and  influence  which  are  not  to  be  ig- 
nored by  those  who  would  be  wise  in  winning  souls. 
Speaking  in  a  general  way,  people  are  easiest  infiu- 
enced  by  those  in  their  own  circumstances,  habits  or 
conditions  of  life.  Those  who  have  had  no  opportu- 
nities for  culture  can  more  readily  impress  their 
friends  in  the  same  condition,  and  usually  the  diffi- 
culties of  an  educated  mind  can  best  be  met  by  one  of 
similar  training.  We  do  not  forget  the  striking  ex- 
ceptions to  this  statement,  which  yet  are  exceptions 
and  should  so  be  considered.  The  impulse  of  the  re- 
geuerated  heart  often  carries  the  "  worker  "  past  the 


388  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

thought  now  suggested ;  and  let  us  not  unduly  repress 
those  impulses,  while  yet  in  planning  for  the  most 
successful  inquiry  room,  we  hold  fast  the  general  prin- 
ciple that  level  lines  have  greatest  drawing  power. 
So  the  young  with  the  young,  women  with  women,  and 
men  with  men,  suggest  the  conditions  in  inquiry  work 
which  as  a  rule  are  most  effective.  The  Scottish  lass 
in  the  inquiry  room  was  perhaps  a  little  too  sensitive 
when  she  exclaimed:  "  Let  the  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel come  and  speak  to  me.  I  dinna  want  the  wheen 
callans  comin'  aroon'  me."  But  the  idea  that  lies  be- 
hind it  is  worthy  of  continual  respect  from  those  who 
would  see  the  best  results  from  personal  religious 
conversation. 

WHEN   TO    HAVE   THEM. 

Kev.  Joseph  Cook  recently  spoke  of  inquiry  meet- 
ings thus: 

"  Now  there  is  our  other  religious  instrumentality, 
almost  in  the  germ  yet,  but  which  might  have  a  field 
as  wide  as  that  which  the  Sabbath  School  has  entered, 
and  become  even  more  fruitful,  would  Chris- 
tians but  learn  Washington  Irving's  secret,  that 
hard  work  at  an  odious  duty  makes  such  duty 
bliss.  This  is  a  large  hope,  I  know;  but  I  refer 
to  the  conversation  meeting,  which  had  such  pow- 
er in  this  city  in  the  last  three  months,  and  is  to 
continue  to  have  the  same  power  in  the  400  churches 
which  are  now  uniting  their  services  with  those  of 
Boston." 

Some  of  the  evangelists  hold  similar  views,  affirm- 
ing that  the  inquiry  meeting  should   be  made  a  part 


INQUIBT   MEETINGS.  389 

of  each  religious  service,  and  should  have  a  normal 
place  in  all  public  worship.  Two  facts  in  this  direc- 
tion seem  evident. 

I.  The  church  has  failed  to  make  the  most  of  the 
power  of  religious  conversation,  and  inquiry  meetings 
have  been  too  infrequent.  The  "germ"  of  such 
meetings  needs  to  be  developed  until  they  have  a 
place  and  power  of  which  the  church  lias  as  yet  hard- 
ly dreamed. 

II.  But  it  is  to  be  questioned  whether  an  inquiry 
meeting  (using  the  words  now  in  their  strict  sense  as 
meaning  a  place  where  anxious  souls  shall  be  pressed 
to  decision)  ever  can  be  made  a  regular  part  of  church 
services,  or  whether  it  is  desirable  that  such  a  thing 
should  be  attempted.  There  can  be  no  inquiry  meet- 
ing, properly  speaking,  without  anxious  souls. 
While  it  is  true  there  always  should  be  anxious  ones 
in  every  congregation,  and  while  every  church  service 
should  be  directed  with  a  view  to  produce  spiritual 
anxiety, as  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  ordinary  routine  of 
church  work,  there  frequently  are  no  inquirers.  To 
call  a  meeting  at  such  time  for  the  purpose  of  guiding 
the  anxious  to  the  Savior,  will  often  fail  of  its  partic- 
ular end;  and  the  effect,  instead  of  being  good,  may  be 
discouraging  and  unhappy. 

It  may  be  said  such  meetings  will  often  cause  secret 
inquirers  to  make  their  condition  known,  and  will  keep 
the  mind  of  the  church  constantly  alert  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls.  And  this  in  certain  cases  may  be  true. 
But  we  incline  to  hold  to  the  old  idea  of  the  inquiry 
meeting,  as  a  place  when  the  state  of  a  revival  i* 
measured;  as  a  fact,  therefore,  which  supposes  some 


390  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

special  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  There  are 
certain  parts  of  church  work,  which  are  pliable  to 
human  rules  and  methods  and  can  be  fixed  in  advance 
as  an  almanac  can  be  made  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year.  Of  this  nature  is  the  Sunday  school.  It  is  a 
place  for  instruction.  The  committee  on  the  lesson 
series  can  block  out  the  work,  and  on  the  track  which 
they  have  proposed  the  Sunday  schools  of  the  whole 
world  can  run  from  January  to  December.  But  the 
purely  spiritual  work  of  saving  souls  has  secret  and 
almighty  connections  with  the  invisible  Spirit  of 
God.  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth."  God's 
t'vee  Spirit  moves  as  and  when  he  will.  This  does 
not  remove  his  work  beyond  the  sphere  of  promise 
and  prayer.  We  may  both  pray  and  plan  for  his 
coming.  Sermons,  prayer- meetings  and  Christian  life 
should  constantly  recognize  this  fact.  But  his  out- 
pouring upon  the  people  cannot  be  antedated.  An 
inquiry  meeting  is  a  place  to  guide  those  who  have 
been  awakened.  Until  times  of  revival  become  one 
continuous  time,  as,  in  the  latter  days,  we  believe  they 
will  be,  these  meetings  should  wait  on  the  Spirit.  Let 
them  be  held  as  often  as  there  are  signs  of  inquiring. 
Every  day,  if  every  day  there  are  seeking  souls.  But 
let  us  not  forget  that  to  keep  the  form  of  them  when 
the  spirit  of  them  is  not  present,  may  be  to  convert 
into  useless  machinery  that  which  rightly  used  is  one 
of  the  highest  and  most  powerful  agencies  of  Chris- 
tian service. 

At  this  point,  however,  another  question  rises.  It' 
inquiry  meetings  in  their  strict  sense  suppose  a  relig- 
ious   awakening,    and    should    commonly  be  limited 


INQUIRY   MEETINGS.  391 

by  such  awakening,  is  there  not  some  way  as  yet 
hardly  discovered  for  making  the  most  and  the  best 
of  religious  conversation?  Might  there  not  be  a 
"  second  meeting  "  which  would  not  necessarily  sup- 
pose anxious  souls,  which  would  be  open  to  all  who 
are  willing  to  confer  together  concerning  spiritual 
things,  and  where  whatever  was  vital  and  helpful  in 
the  public  meeting,  might  be  repeated  with  the 
additional  force  of  the  personal  experience  and 
address  with  which  it  would  be  blended?  "'Then 
they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often^one  to  another." 
In  our  superlative  estimate  of  public  speech  we  have 
neglected  the  more  penetrating  personal  word.  We 
have  made  the  truth  the  reflection  of  one  man's  expe- 
rience, the  public  speaker's,  when  it  might  have  been 
sharpened  and  brightened  by  the  attention  of  a  mul- 
titude of  minds.  A  conversational  meeting  taking 
such  direction  and  coming  at  such  results  as  Provi- 
dence and  the  Spirit  might  from  time  to  time  open 
for  it,  would  be  alwavs  in  order,  and  increasingly 
helpful  to  every  class  of  worshipers.  Of  indefinite 
flexibility,  it  could  be  adapted  to  every  phase  and 
form  of  religious  life.  It  might  be  a  Bible  class — it 
might  deepen  into  an  inquiry  meeting — sometimes 
an  hour  of  quiet  Christian  instruction  and  nurture, 
and  sometimes  an  hour  for  decisions  for  eternity,  but 
always  a  stimulus  to  Christian  life  and  thought.  In 
this  regard  the  present  revivals  have  brought  us  upon 
a  new  era.  Conversation  meetings  will  give  courage 
in  speaking  for  Christ  and  wisdom  in  fishing  for  men. 
Hearts  unmoved  by  the  diffused  light  of  truth  will 
burn  under  the  lens-power  of  this  personal  address 


392  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

HOW   TO   CONDUCT   INQUIRY  MEETINGS. 

There  is  no  one  rule  by  which  each  meeting  may 
be  determined.  Where  there  are  many  inquirers 
very  much  depends  upon  the  leader,  both  in  the  wise 
conduct  of  the  public  exercises  and  in  the  wise  dis 
tribution  of  inquirers  and  those  who  are  to  counsel 
them.  There  are  two  evangelists  who  seem  to  us  pe- 
culiarly happy  in  their  conduct  of  such  meetings, 
Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Whittle.  A  brief  sketch  of  a 
meeting  conducted  by  each  will  indicate  the  plans 
that  have  been  greatly  owned  of  God. 

It  is  at  the  close  of  the  Tabernacle  service.  The 
anxious  had  been  urged  to  enter  the  inquiry  room. 
The  merely  curious  had  been  specially  urged  not  to 
disturb  the  solemn  place  by  their  presence.  Mr. 
Moody  in  opening  the  meeting  assumes  there  are 
only  two  classes  present,  the  seekers  and  the  workers. 
By  a  call  for  the  inquirers  to  rise,  he  ascertains  their 
number,  and  at  once  distributes  them  in  different 
parts  of  the  room  and  assigns  a  "  worker"  to  each  in- 
quirer, or  in  some  cases  gathers  two  or  three  cf  simi- 
lar circumstances  and  spiritual  condition  around  one 
judicious  and  competent  teacher.  In  a  few  moments 
the  whole  room  presents  a  hushed  and  solemn  scene. 
The  Bible,  without  which  no  "  worker  "  is  welcome  in 
that  p'.ace,  is  freely  opened,  earnest  faces  bend  togeth- 
er over  its  pages.  In  many  cases  the  teacher  and  the 
inquirer  study  its  promises  on  their  knees,  and  then 
engage  in  prayer.  In  almost  every  case  the  inquirer 
is  urged  to  pray  for  himself,  and  if  unable  to  form 
the  sentences,   the  teacher  makes  the  prayer,  which 


Q^rvc^cfi^<y  (a^VdPC&l'&C. 


INQUIRY  MEETINGS.  393 

sentence  by  sentence  is  solemnly  repeated.  In  half 
an  hour  Mr.  Moody  goes  to  the  platform,  asks  all  to 
kneel  while  two  or  three  prayers  are  offered,  that  the 
hour  may  be  one  of  universal  decision.  "  JSTow,"  says 
the  leader,  "  there  are  many  souls  here  buffeting  the 
waves;  let  us  throw  out  planks  to  them.  Mr.  A., 
can  you  tell  these  people  how  they  may  be  saved 
now?"  The  Christian  addressed,  in  brief  words  or 
illustrations,  points  out  the  path  of  life.  Another, 
and  then  another  is  called  on  to  throw  out  some 
plank  from  God's  "Word  or  his  own  experience.  These 
testimonies  are  briefly,  rapidly,  given,  while  eager 
souls  drink  in  the  counsel  they  contain.  Then  Mr. 
Moody,  after  explaining  the  solemn  character  of  the 
decision  to  which  he  has  urged  the  inquirers,  calls  on 
those  who  are  ready  to  accept  Christ  at  once  to  say 
so.  In  various  phrases,  from  all  parts  of  the  room, 
comes  the  common  purpose  henceforth  to  live  a 
Christian  life,  here  from  the  lips  of  a  child  a  word  of 
trust  in  Jesus,  here  the  balanced  words  of  manhood, 
long  tossed  on  the  sea,  but  now  deliberately  at  rest 
in  Christ,  and  here  the  heart-broken  confessions  of  a 
wanderer,  who  has  once  more  set  his  face  to  his  Fa- 
ther's house.  While  others  are  hesitating  between 
life  and  death,  Mr.  Moody  asks  all  who  can  sing,  "  I 
will  trust  Him,"  to  rise  and  unite  in  that  chorus. 
Leading  on  their  faith,  he  calls  for  another  singing  of 
the  same  verse,  perhaps  changing  it  thus:  "  I  do 
trust  Him,"  and  "  He  has  saved  me,"  and  then  the 
young  converts  having  been  earnestly  commended  to 
God  in  prayer,  the  meeting  is  promptly  closed. 
The  other  inquiry  meeting  is  at  the  close  of  a  church 


394 


TIMES   OF  KEFBESELM*. 


service,  Mr.  Whittle  has  invited  the  inquirers  and 
all  who  are  willing  to  converse  with  them  into  the  lec- 
ture-room. After  an  opening  prayer,  he  presents 
three  distinct  points  for  the  consideration  of  in- 
quirers: First,  that  Christ  came  to  save  guilty 
and  condemned  sinners.  Having  proven  this  point 
from  the  Bible,  he  asks  all  who  subscribe  to  it 
to  signify  it  by  holding  up  their  right  hand. 
Bible  statements  are  incontrovertible  and  every  hand 
is  raised.  Second,  that  all  in  the  room  are  thus  guilty 
and  condemned  and  need  this  Savior.  Scripture 
passages  proving  this  point  are  read,  and  those  who 
assent  to  it  are  asked,  as  before,  to  signify  their  assent, 
Third,  renouncing  my  sin,  I  accept  the  Savior  as  my 
Savior.  This  duty  is  affectionately  urged  and  illus- 
trated, and  all  who  can  assent  to  this  final  test  are 
asked  to  hold  up  their  hands  in  solemn  covenant  with 
God.  The  path  has  been  made  so  plain,  the  inquirer 
has  been  so  shut  in  to  the  necessity  of  accepting  or  re- 
jecting the  Savior,  that  very  many  make  it  the  mo- 
ment of  their  supreme  choice.  Then  follow  prayer.-, 
testimonies  and  personal  counsels  and  the  meeting, 
without  formal  cluse,  by  the  silent  retiring  of  one 
group  after  another,  slowly  dissolves. 

But  inquiry  meetings  of  all  others  can  least  be 
run  by  rule.  Any  method  is  good  that  brings  souls 
to  intelligent  decision.  Any  method  is  bad,  no  mat- 
ter with  what  interest  conducted,  that  fails  of  this 
highest  end  of  every  inquiry  meeting. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

WOMAN  IN  REVIVALS. 

From  the  days  of  Phebe,  "servant  of  the  church  of 
Oenchrea,"  Lydia  of  Thyatira,  and  Priscilla,  the 
teacher  of  Apollos,  woman's  place  in  the  church  has 
been  as  conspicuous  as  it  has  been  glorious.  kk  The 
whole  history  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  is  redolent 
with  the  fame  and  praise  of  feminine  piety  and  zeal 
and  consecration.  Equally  so  is  the  subsequent  his- 
tory of  the  church  in  every  age.  "When  midnight 
darkness  came  over  the  church  and  the  world,  and 
priests  themselves  were  like  the  people  in  besotted  ig- 
norance and  lethargy,  women  kept  the  tire  <>n  this 
altar  with  more  than  vestal  vigilance,  being  the  only 
missionaries  to  kindle  and  propagate  its  light  among 
the  heathen.  Dambrowa  kindled  it  in  Poland,  Anna 
in  Russia,  Sarolta  in  Hungary,  Tyra  in  Denmark;  and 
so  it  went  on,  with  queens,  for  its  nursing  mothers,  and 
captive  maidens  for  its  faithful  missionaries,  until 
the  ferocious  rage  of  crusaders  drove  their  gentle  in- 
fluence away." 

Nor  is  that  part  of  woman's  work  which  entitles 
her  to  special  mention  in  a  history  of  revivals  of  re- 
cent origin.  The  home  is  woman's  throne,  and  that 
revival  will  be  most  permanently  blessed  which  is  besl 
fcecured  in  Christian  homes.   The  iniluence  of  mother. 


396  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

wife  and  daughter  tells  directly  upon  the  broadest 
and  grandest  movements  of  the  kingdom  of  grace. 
Some  of  the  greatest  revivals  of  the  world  may  be 
traced  to  a  praying  mother.  Who  shall  measure  the 
work  of  the  mother  of  the  Wesleys?  Who  shall  set 
bounds  to  the  prayers  of  Monica,  the  mother  of  Au- 
gustine, or  calculate  the  far-reaching  influence  of  the 
midnight  wrestlings  of  the  mother  of  John  Newton? 
They  reached  farther  than  the  deck  of  the  slaver  on . 
which  the  godless  sailor  was  stricken  with  the  memo- 
ry of  his  mother's  love  and  counsels.  They  were  the 
fountain-heads  of  streams  of  grace  which,  after  encir- 
cling the  earth,  bring  precious  freightage  of  countless 
souls  to  the  foot  of  the  throne. 

But  two  particular  channels  have  recently  been 
opened  for  woman's  work,  which  are  destined  largely 
to  affect  the  religious  life  of  the  world.  The  first  is 
the  Woman's  Missionary  Work.  It  is  only  a  few 
years  since  this  special  branch  of  Foreign  Mission 
service  began.  Its  progress  has  been  rapid  and  its 
fruits  abundant.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  conviction 
in  the  minds  of  godly  women,  that  there  was  a  work 
for  the  salvation  of  heathen  women  which  only  Chris- 
tian women  could  accomplish.  Indian  Zenanas  were 
closed  against  men.  A  woman's  hand  must  carry  the 
gospel  through  those  lowly  doors,  or  it  never  could 
enter.  This  thought  aroused  a  multitude  of  conse- 
crated  women  in  various  churches,  to  the  necessity  of 
organized  work  by  women  for  women.  This  is  not 
the  place  to  dwell  on  that  work.  Its  relation  to  re- 
vivals is  most  intimate.  If  women  could  band  to- 
gether for  the  more  efficient  and  enthusiastic  carrying 


WOMAN   IN   REVIVALS.  397 

of  the  gospel  abroad — if  so  doing,  developed  resources 
unknown  before — why  not  use  this  same  force  for 
home  evangelization?  "Why  should  not  women  band 
together  every  where  to  rescue  their  perishing  sisters? 
The  feet  that  were  swift  in  a  tender  devotion  to  hasten 
to  the  tomb,  might  be  swift  in  an  organized  endeavor 
to  lead  others  to  the  cross. 

The  second  channel  for  woman's  work — so  wonder- 
fully opened  of  late — began  in  the  Praying  Temper- 
ance Crusade,  and  developed  into  the  well-planned 

Woman's  Temperance  Union. 

This  is  directly  connected  with  revival  work 
and  claims  more  than  a  passing  mention.  In  the 
chapter  on  Gospel  Temperance,  we  will  note  the  rise 
and  progress  of  the  Temperance  Union;  but  this 
chapter  calls  for  a  more  particular  review  of  woman's 
efforts,  in  connection  with  the  Tabernacle  Eeform. 

This  Union  assumes  a  national  character.  It  is  or- 
ganized in  many  states,  and  it  aims  to  do  a  work  as 
general  as  that  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. Its  plans  and  methods  in  all  the  cities  will 
best  be  set  before  the  reader  by  giving  an  account 
somewhat  in  detail  of  the  work  undertaken  and  ac- 
complished in  the  "  Union,"  in  Chicago ;  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  efficient  of  them  all. 

It  dates  its  beginning  from  a  meeting  of  the  ladies 
of  Chicago,  called  March  16th,  1874,  for  the  purpose  of 
presenting  to  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council  a  pro- 
test against  the  sale  of  liquor  on  the  Sabbath.  Pre- 
paratory meetings  of  a  quiet  character  had  been  hejd, 
and  a  petition  circulated,  to  which  ten  thousand  sig^ 


39£  TIMES    OF  REFRESHING. 

natures  were  speedily  obtained.  The  best  portion  of 
Chicago's  citizens,  aroused  by  the  daily  report  of  the 
Temperance  Revival  in  Ohio  and  other  states,  was 
eager  to  have  the  petition  presented.  Fifty-eight  la- 
dies went  to  the  Council  Chamber.  The  request  was 
refused,  and,  in  the  presence  of  the  ladies,  an  adverse 
bill  was  passed,  while  they  were  escorted  from  the 
temple  of  justice  by  a  ruffianly  mob.  The  animus  of 
the  liquor  traffic  was  never  more  plainly  exhibited, 
and  organized  opposition  to  it  was  natural  and  inev- 
itable. 

From  March  to  October,  1874,  the  society  engaged 
in  the  circulation  of  pledges,  visitation  of  saloons  with 
temperance  literature,  and  holding  mass  meetings.  It 
also  maintained  a  temperance  prayer  meeting,  every- 
where the  central  idea  of  the  "  women's  work."  In 
October  of  1875,  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard  was  elected 
President,  a  position  which  she  still  holds. 

To  her  zeal,  eloquence  and  executive  ability  much 
of  the  success,  not  alone  of  the  Chicago  Society,  but 
all  the  organizations  in  the  country,  is  largely  indebt- 
ed. She  is  a  woman  of  rare  qualifications  for  the 
evangelistic  work  she  is  doing.  Of  cultivated  and  pol- 
ished address,  of  skill  in  arranging  and  presenting 
facts  and  arguments,  and  of  a  restrained  and  im- 
pressive eloquence,  both  of  matter  and  manner,  and 
of  practical  sagacity,  both  in  plans  and  their  execu- 
tion, she  is  admirably  fitted  for  her  useful  and  re- 
sponsible position. 

The  object  of  the  Union  is  primarily  to  save  men 
and  women  from  intemperance.  But  associated  with 
this  is  a  wider  purpose;  to  save  from  sin  of  every  kind, 


WOMAN   IN   REVIVALS.  399 

and  persuade  men  to  find  in  Christ  and  his  service, 
freedom  from  every  bondage.  The  pledge  is  present- 
ed first  of  all;  but  only  as  a  means  to  the  higher  end. 
Christ  is  urged  upon  everyone  who  takes  the  pledge 
as  the  only  efficient  and  sufficient  help.  The  Union 
strives  in  many  ways  of  prayer  and  work  to  undo 
what  is  being  done  by  the  thousands  of  legalized 
dram-shops  in  the  city. 

Visitation  from  house  to  house  is  an  important 
part  of  the  work.  For  this  purpose  visitors  are  con- 
stantly employed,  seeking  the  homes  of  those  who  have 
attended  the  meetings  or  signed  the  pledge.  A  bond 
between  the  Union  and  the  families  of  the  intemperate 
is  thus  created  which  strengthens  often  into  a  saving 
friendship. 

Among  the  public  means  by  which  the  ladies  carry 
on  their  work  the  following  may  be  mentioned:  First, 
a  daily  temperance  prayer-meeting — the  scene  of  con- 
stant interest,  and  many  hopeful  conversions.  The 
room  is  usually  crowded ;  requests  for  prayer  are  pre- 
sented in  large  numbers,  and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting 
jin  hour  is  given  to  religious  conversation  and  signing 
the  pledge.  It  is  really  inquiry-room  work,  and  has 
been  greatly  blessed.  Mrs.  Bounds,  the  accomplished 
secretary,  says  :  "  One  remarkable  and  blessed 
feature  of  this  meeting  and  its  special  work  is  this: 
Christ  is  represented  as  the  only  refuge  for  the  sin- 
ner, and  they  are  urged  not  to  depend  upon  their  own 
will-power  or  strength,  but  to  lay  hold  of  Christ, 
who  alone  is  able  to  save  and  keep  them ;  and  as  I 
have  held  personal  conversation  with  nearly  all  who 
have  signed   the  pledge  from  day  to  day,  I  find  the 


400  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

case  rare  where  a  man  insists  lie  is  able  to  stand 
alone.  So  large  is  the  per  cent,  of  those  who  have 
already  either  found  the  Savior  precious  or  are  anx- 
ious to  find  him,  that  we  have  come  to  look  upon  this 
work  of  sign ing  the  pledge  as  virtually  saying:  4I 
need  Christ's  help.'  Any  number  of  instances  could 
be  given  interesting  in  the  extreme,  where  men  have 
come  to  the  platform  and  before  leaving,  by  some 
earnest,  tender  word,  from  some  warm  Christian  heart, 
have  been  persuaded  not  only  to  pledge  themselves  to 
temperance  but  to  the  blessed  Christ;  and  who  have 
thus  pledged,  redeemed  their  promise  by  earnestly 
seeking  him  with  all  their  hearts,  and  have  afterwards 
testified  to  the  same." 

The  work  at  the  Bethel  Home,  carried  on  by  Chris- 
tian women  is  a  touching  part  of  this  Christlike  mis- 
sion to  the  degraded.  There  gather  every  Friday  night 
from  150  to  200  of  the  most  wretched  and  hopeless 
wanderers  eye  ever  saw,  and  to  them  the  gospel  is 
preached,  and  often  hard  hearts  break  and  yield  to  the 
touch  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  In  connection  with  the 
meetings  held  at  this  point,  a  beautiful  reading-room 
has  been  fitted  up  and  maintained  by  the  ladies  of 
the  Union.  A  cottage  prayer-meeting  has  also  been 
started  in  the  neighborhood,  and  through  it  many 
families  are  reached,  with  encouraging  results. 

Another  department  of  the  general  work  is  carried 
on  at  the  Burr  Mission.  For  more  than  a  year  a 
gospel  temperance  meeting  has  been  sustained  there 
amid  many  alternations  of  discouragement  and 
hope.  The  average  attendance  is  over  a  hundred,  and 
over  two  hundred   during  the  year  have  signed   the 


WOMAN   IN   REVIVALS.  40 1 

pledge,  and  up  to  this  time  only  thirteen  are  known 
to  have  broken  it.  Here,  also,  the  temperance  work 
has  been  crowned  with  the  glory  of  many  hopeful 
conversions  to  Christ. 

This,  in  general,  is  the  work  in  immediate  connec- 
tion with  the  Chicago  Temperance  Union.  Its  influ- 
ence, however,  is  felt  throughout  the  Northwest.  It 
is  often  called  upon  by  towns  outside  for  help  in  the 
great  battle  against  rum.  Mr.  Wm.  Torrance, — better 
known  among  his  friends  as  "  Scotch  Willie," — Mr. 
Latimore,  Mr.  Cassiday,  Mr.  Hollenbeek  and  others, 
have  done  good  missionary  service  in  various  States, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  "  Union."  Thus  temperance 
work,  on  a  Christian  basis,  is  rapidly  spreading 
throughout  the  West. 

As  illustrating  the  fruits  of  the  work,  we  give  the 
following  incidents,  reported  to  us  by  the  Secretary: 

"  In  the  early  beginning  of  our  work,  a  poor,  ragged, 
dirty,  wretched-looking  young  man,  in  a  state  of  in- 
toxication, came  into  our  daily  temperance  prayer 
meeting.     He  said  he  wanted  to  sign  the  pledge,  and 

did  so.     He  said  his  home  was   in  H ,  England; 

that  he  was  an  only  son  of  well-to-do  parents,  but 
that  he  had  been  banished  by  his  father  from  home, 
because  of  dissipation;  that  he  formed  the  habit  at 
his  own  father's  table.  For  twelve  months  he  had 
wandered  the  streets  of  Chicago,  earning  little  more 
than  enough  to  pay  for  his  whisky.  In  this  desti- 
tute and  half-starved  condition  he  wandered  into  our 
meeting.  The  hand  of  sympathy  was  held  out  to 
him,  and  he  was  told  there  was  hope.  But  so  low 
had  he  fallen,  so  terrible  was  the   struggle  to  break 


4:02  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

away  from  the  demon  of  strong  drink,  that  not  until 
lie  made  a  fall  surrender  to  Christ  did  he  succeed  in 
getting  a  firm  foothold  upon  the  rock  of  safety.  This 
alternate  falling  and  rising  covered  a  period  of  over  a 
year;  but  at  last  he  was  enabled  to  cast  himself  wholly 
upon  the  Lord,  and  the  victory  came.  In  the  mean- 
time letters  passed  frequently  between  the  mother, 
in  far-away  England,  and  the  Secretary  of  our  Union ; 
but  the  father  refused  for  months  to  write  to  his  boy, 
and  scarcely  allowed  his  name  to  be  mentioned  in  the 
home;  but  at  last  the  stern  man  yielded  before  the 
earnest,  constant  pleadings  of  the  mother,  and  money 
came  at  last  to  take  the  son  home  to  his  parents. 
How  the  poor  child  wept  for  joy,  when  at  last  the 
message  came,  '  Come  home:'*  and  with  his  passage 
paid  to  Liverpool,  dressed  in  a  new,  comfortable  suit 
of  clothes,  and  with  many  a  '  God  Mess  you,  Rich- 
ard? the  boy  left  us  for  his  longed-for  haven  of  rest. 
To-day  he  is  a  respected  citizen  in  his  native  city,  an 
active  business  man,  and  an  earnest  Christian  and 
temperance  worker.  The  mother  still  writes  us,  and 
every  letter  is  filled  with  gratitude  to  God  for  her 
son's  deliverance. 

"  At  the  close  of  one  of  our  meetings,  a  man  with  a 
terribly  rough  and  forbidding  countenance,  was  <>1» 
served  leaning  against  a  post.  A  lady  approached 
and  held  out  her  hand,  with  a  -pleasant  k  Good  even- 
ing, sir;  I  am  glad  to  see  you  here.'  Keeping  his 
hands  behind  him,  his  surly  answer  was:  '  Don't  you 
touch  me.'  'Why,  won't  you  shake  hands  with  meV 
said  the  lady,  not  appearing  to  notice  his  rough  man- 
ner.     4  No,  I   won't.'      'Why   not?'   said    she.      "I 


WOMAN   IN   REVIVALb.  40" 

Am  here  to  do  you  good  if  I  can.'  '  Nobody  does 
me  any  good,'  was  the  still  rude  rejoinder.  'Per- 
haps that  is  because  you  won't  let  them.  Now,  listen 
to  me.  You  are  a  great  big  man,  very  strong,  and 
yet  you  wouldn't  harm  me  I  know.'  '  Indeed,  I 
wouldn't,  lady,'  he  said,  interrupting.  'Well,  then,' 
continued  the  lady,  '  I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of  you.  I 
want  you  to  come  to  my  house  to-morrow,  at  ten 
o'clock,  and  I  will  tell  you  some  good  news.  You 
have  been  among  very  wicked  people.'  '  Indeed  I 
have,'  said  the  poor  fellow,  again  interrupting. 
'And  they  have  done  you  no  good.  Now,  come 
with  good  people,  and  see  if  you  don't  like  the 
chano-e.'  Something  in  the  kind  words  and  manner 
touched  the  man's  heart,  and  his  head  drooped  a  little, 
as  with  a  choked  voice  he  said:  'Just  look  at  me 
—all  dirt  and  rags.  Don't  ask  me  to  go  with  good 
people.  /  ain't  ft  P  and  the  tears  ran  down  his 
cheeks,  and  were  wiped  away  with  his  poor  dirty 
sleeve.  But  the  lady  went  on :  '  Yes,  you  are  fit,  too; 
tit  to  come  to  my  home.  Here  it  is,'  giving  him  her 
address  on  a  slip  of  paper.  '  Come  to-morrow  morn- 
ing I  shall  look  for  you,  and  I'll  have  some  "good 
news"  to  tell  you.  Good-night,'  and  again  she  held 
out  her  hand,  which  was  grasped  in  a  great  brawny 
one,  with  no  reluctance  this  time.  'Good-night,' 
said  a  husky  voice,  in  response  to  her  cheery  one;  and 
the  door  to  that  man's  heart,  so  long  shut  and  barred 
to  all  good  influences,  swung  open  that  night,  touched 
by  the  magic  fingers  of  a  woman's  tenderness. 

"The  morning  came,  and  with  it  the  poor  fellow,  who 
gat  down,  and  told,  after  some  persuasion,  the  story  of 


i04  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING. 

his  life.  So  pitiful  was  it,  that  the  lady  herself  was 
moved  to  tears,  and  as  he  went  on  recounting  the  strug- 
gles, the  failures,  the  cruel  disappointments,  and  the 
increasing  power  of  the  appetite  for  strong  drink,  it 
seemed  as  if  the  sun  could  not  shine  when  the  world 
was  so  full  of  misery.  '  And  last  night,'  he  went 
on,  'I  heard  the  singing  in  that  meeting,  and  just 
stepped  inside  to  see  what  was  going  on,  so  wretched 
that  I  hated  everyone,  and  hated  myself;  and  as  I 
leaned  against  the  post,  I  made  up  my  mind  I  would 
drown  myself  in  the  lake.  Just  then  you  spoke  to  me, 
and  oh!  I  can't  tell  how  it  was,  but  it  seemed  as  if  I 
was  in  hell,  and  I  was  afraid  to  touch  you.  Oh!  I 
know  I  was  very  rude;  but  you  can't  tell  how  I  felt; 
and  oh!  if  you  think  there  is  any  chance  for  me, 
won't  you  pray  for  me  now?' 

"Ah,  the  'good  news'  she  had  for  him  was  the 
blessed  gospel  tidings,  and  here  he  was  already,  cry- 
ing out  to  be  saved.  Surely  the  Lord  had  prepared 
the  way.  They  both  knelt,  and  as  she  prayed,  the 
poor  man  cried  aloud  for  mercy  and  deliverance,  and 
( io'd  came  to  his  relief.  He  was  enabled  to  cast  himself 
upon  Christ,  and  believing,  accept  the  sacrifice  prepar- 
ed for  him.  As  they  rose  from  their  knees,  the  old  bit- 
ter, hard  look  was  gone  from  the  poor  man's  face,  and 
with  a  calm,  subdued  manner,  and  with  a  look  so  full 
of  wonderment,  he  said  in  a  whisper,  '  Jesus  has 
saved  me!'  It  seemed  the  gate  of  heaven.  "With  a 
new  copy  of  the  Word  of  Life  in  his  hands,  he  went 
out  into  a  new  world  and  to  begin  a  new  life!" 

In  reply  to  questions  concerning  the  character  and 
permanence  of  this  work,  Mrs.  Rounds  writes  thus: 


WOMAN   IN   EEVIVALS.  405 

"  The  basis  of  our  work  is  Christ,  and  no  means  or 
measures  are  used  but  such  as  He  manifestly  ap- 
proves and  blesses.  Our  lady  visitor,  a  noble  Chris- 
tian woman,  is  constantly  employed  in  looking  after 
the  families  of  those  who  have  signed  the  pledge,  en- 
deavoring to  complete  the  work  by  leading  them  to 
become  Christians,  and  unite  with  some  church, 
whatever  may  be  their  choice — Catholic  or  Protes- 
tant. She  gives  Bibles  and  Testaments  to  persons  too 
poor  to  buy  them,  and  tracts  and  religious  papers  are 
freely  distributed  at  many  of  our  meetings.  The  work 
of  the  Union  for  this  year,  commencing  with  October, 
1876,  numbers  up  to  the  present  date  over  1,500 
signers  to  the  pledge.  This  covers  all  the  points 
where  meetings  are  held.  Of  this  number  we  feel 
confident  that  fully  350  are  truly  converted.  We 
trust  and  believe  that  eternity  will  reveal  a  much 
larger  number  saved  with  an  everlasting  salvation. 
We  are  often  asked  how  large  a  per  cent  keep  the 
pledge.  We  cannot  tell,  as  hundreds  who  sign  it  are 
beneath  our  care  for  a  few  days  or  weeks  only,  and 
then  leave  us  for  months  or  forever,  scattering  into 
other  cities,  or  upon  the  lakes,  or  away  over  the 
ocean.  It  is  estimated  that  20,000  pass  through  the 
Bethel  Home  every  year,  and  nearly  all  of  these  at- 
tend one,  if  not  more,  of  our  temperance  meetings 
held  in  the  Home.  We  have  no  accurate  means  of 
knowing  the  number  of  different  ones  who  attend  our 
meetings  daily  in  Farwell  Hall — we  only  know  that 
their  name  is  legion. 

"  Last  winter  our  daily  meetings  at  this  point  aver- 
aged between  two   and   three  hundred.     During  this 


406  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

summer  we  average,  daily,  seventy-five.  We  often 
hear  this  expression  as  we  engage  in  personal  conver- 
sation at  the  close  of  the  meeting:  "I  am  a  stranger 
here;  was  never  in  this  meeting  before.  I  heard  the 
singing,  and  came  in  to  see  what  was  going  on." 
Thus  we  scatter  the  seed  every  year  upon  thousands 
of  hearts,  with  what  definite,  accurate  results  only 
the  dear  Lord  knows. 

"  But  He  who  bids  us  "  Sow  beside  all  waters,"  as- 
sures us  also  that  we  "Shall  reap  if  we  faint  not," 
and  that  if  we  go  forth  weeping  bearing  precious 
seed,  we  shall  doubtless  come  again,  rejoicing,  bring- 
ing our  sheaves  with  us."  So  we  leave  it  all  in  His 
hands,  content,  so  that  we  have  His  presence  in  our 
hearts  and  His  blessing  on  our  work!" 

Who  will  not  say  this  work  is  blessed  already?  Yet 
who  but  can  see  it  is  but  just  beginning?  When 
the  slave  to  appetite  shall  be  everywhere  approached 
with  a  Christian's  believing  prayers  and  a  woman's 
loving  sympathy  blended,  shall  we  not  see  new  won- 
ders of  reformation  and  spiritual  emancipation? 

BIBLE    WORK. 

The  idea  of  an  association  among  women  for  Bible 
reading  and  Bible  work  was  first  suggested  to  Mr. 
Moody,  we  believe,  by  the  Bible  Work  Association 
of  London.  The  ultimate  object  of  it  in  Britain,  and 
since  in  our  own  country,  is  to  make  known  salvation 
through  Christ  by  reading  the  Bible  to  individuals  in 
their  homes  and  in  small  meetings  collected  for  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures.  The  association,  as  organ- 
ized in  Chicago  and  other  cities, binds  its  members  by 


WOMAN   IN   KEVIVALS.  40? 

the  following  agreement:  1st,  To  read  the  Bible  to- 
gether daily — praying  for  Spiritual  guidance  in  the 
reading.  2nd,  To  pray  daily  for  one  another.  3rd,  To 
meet  weekly  and  monthly  for  prayer  and  conference 
and  study  of  the  Scriptures.  4th,  By  personal  con- 
versations, prayer-meetings,  Scripture  readings  and 
other  Christian  efforts  to  present  Christ  as  the  Savior 
of  the  lost  and  a  present  help  to  all  who  are  weary 
and  heavy  laden. 

About  eighteen  Bible  readers  are  regularly  employ- 
ed in  Chicago.  Their  work  is  to  visit  a  certain  given 
district,  (about  a  hundred  families  usually  constituting 
a  district,)  instructing  them  in  Bible  truth,  ascer- 
taining their  spiritual  condition  and  striving,  by  re- 
peated visits,  prayer  and  counsel  to  lead  them  to  the 
Savior,  or  if  Christians  already,  to  make  them  more 
intelligent  in  Bible  knowledge  and  more  active  in 
Christian  service.  In  addition  to  this  wTork  the  Bible 
readers  usually  hold  mothers'  weekly  meetings  in  their 
district,  and  have  a  sewing-school  in  connection  with 
some  Church,  for  the  instruction  of  girls.  Thus  an 
attempt  is  made  to  anchor  the  work  in  a  Church  or- 
ganization, and  so  seek  its  permanence  and  expan- 
sion. 

We  give  the  following  summary  for  1876,  as  indi- 
cating at  once  the  actual  results  and  the  breadth  of 
their  plan: 

Number  of  cottage  prayer  meetings G73 

"           mothers'  meetings 73 

"            school  prayer  meetings ;  i6,"i 

Sessions  of  Sewing  schools 202 

Number  of  Bible  visits [   [  2  820 

"            Scripture  conversations 2723 

Visits  to  sick '479 


408  TIMES   OF  REFRESHING. 

Errands  to  poor 265 

Tracts  and  religious  papers  distributed 1 0,62(1 

Garments  received  for  distribution 2,723 

Miss  Emily  Dryer  is  in  charge  of  the  work,  and  to 
her  labors  and  well-directed  counsels  these  large  re- 
sults are  mainly  due.  Not  only  does  she  plan  and 
manage  the  central-work — engaging  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  Bible  readers,  and  in  a  general  superin- 
tendence of  all  the  meetings  and  missions.  She  has 
also  infused  into  many  of  the  churches  in  the  city  a 
new  interest  in  united  Bible  study  and  in  mis- 
sionary Bible  work.  Thus,  in  illustration,  one  of 
the  churches  stimulated  by  her  statements  and  en- 
couraged by  her  help,  organized  a  Woman's  'Associ- 
ation, which  has,  in  addition  to  the  improvement  of 
its  members  (about  two  hundred),  compassed  an  as- 
tonishing amount  of  missionary  work  in  that  part  of 
of  the  city  around  this  Church.  Scores  of  cottage 
prayer  meetings,  and  sewing-circles,  and  Bible  classes 
are  regularly  sustained.  Several  Bible  readers  are 
constantly  employed,  and  thousands  of  visits  are  an- 
nually made.  These  visits  are  not  merely  nor  main- 
ly for  temporary  relief,  but  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 
How  many  have  thus  been  brought  to  Christ  it  is  im- 
possible to  say,  but  it  is  easy  to  prophesy  that  similar 
activity  among  the  Christian  women  of  every  congre- 
gation in  a  great  city,  would  soon  be  mightily  felt  in 
the  improved  intelligence  and  morals  of  these  centres 
of  influence,  good  or  bad,  these  fountains  of  hope  or 
peril  tor  the  nation.  It  is  a  fact,  significant  in  explana- 
tion of  recent  civic  troubles,  and  alarming  unless  forces 
of  counteraction  are  set  at  work,  that  the  populations 
of  our  great  cities  are  fearfully  ignorant  of  the  Bible. 


WOMAN    IN   REVIVALS.  409 

Any  organization  that  tends  not  only  to  supply  the 
Bible  to  the  people,  but  also  to  enable  them  to  under- 
stand the  sense  of  it,  must  be  worthy  of  the  notice  of 
the  philanthropist  and  the  praise  of  all  good  men. 
Quietly  and  almost  unnoticed  in  all  our  cities,  Chris- 
tian women,  without  the  slightest  violation  of  the  re- 
serve and  delicacy  that  should  guard  the  Christian 
activity  of  their  sex,  are  together  studying  the  Bible, 
that  in  personal  conversation  they  may  convey  its 
precious  truths  to  others,  and  are  then  going  forth 
like  missionaries  from  the  throne,  to  bring  Heaven's 
light  to  cottage  and  hovel,  to  lane,  alley,  cellar  and 
garret.  If  there  is  a  work  an  angel  might  covet,  it 
surely  is  this.  Grace  Darling's  heroism,  as  she 
plunged  into  the  surf  to  rescue  the  drowning,  Flor- 
ence Nightingale's  courage  and  devotion  as  she  stood 
with  lamp  in  hand  in  the  hospital  wards,  are  repeated 
in  the  Christian  womanhood  of  this  generation,  which 
plunges  into  the  destructive  waves  of  city  wickedness 
and  ignorance,  which  stands  in  wards  of  our  spiritual 
hospitals,  full  of  sick  and  dying  souls,  flashing  on 
wan,  neglected  outcast  ones  the  light  of  hope  from 
the  lamp  of  life. 

WOMAN    IN   THE    INQUIRY   ROOM. 

Among  the  results  of  woman's  work  in  the  churches 
in  the  various  departments  now  open  to  her,  none 
have  been  more  wholly  good,  more  definite  or  glo- 
rious, than  her  personal  conversations  on  the  subject 
of  religion.  As  to  substance,  this  kind  of  Christian 
service  is  indeed  as  old  as  motherhood.  Wherever 
among  Christian  people,  the  relation  of  mother  and 


410  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

child  has  existed,  there  with  more  or  less  fidelity  and 
tenderness  has  motherly  love  impressed  the  lessons  of 
Christian  faith.  But  it  has  been  reserved  for  this 
present  revival  era  to  carry  into  wider  circles  this  ef- 
fective form  of  Christian  service,  the  natural  begin- 
ning of  which  is  in  the  Christian  home,  but  the  lines 
of  which  have  now  gone  far  and  wide  into  society. 

A  Christian  woman  has  peculiar  (qualifications  for 
this  work.  In  the  inquiry  room  masculine  vigor  and 
emphasis  count  far  less  than  feminine  sympathy,  tact 
and  address.  The  qualifications  most  essential  and  val- 
uable, are  knowledge  and  love  of  the  Bible;  especially 
a  clear  understanding  of  the  plan  of  salvation,  love  of 
souls,  and  a  certain  sacred  art  in  at  once  applying 
the  Scripture  remedy  for  every  phase  of  spiritual 
doubt  and  trouble.  In  the  former  of  these  requisites, 
intelligent  women  are  on  a  plane  with  men,  and  in  the 
latter  they  are  by  natural  constitution  better  fitted  to  be 
the  spiritual  guides  of  the  anxious.  Reasoning  counts 
for  very  little  when  the  question  which  by  its  great- 
ness belittles  all  reasoning  stands  before  the  mind. 
Then  a  spiritual  intuition,  which,  impatient  of  all 
slower  methods,  flies  straight  to  the  heart  of  the  sub- 
ject, rises  to  a  supreme  value,  and  quickness  of  percep- 
tion mingled  with  the  sympathetic  art  of  bringing 
the  thing  perceived  to  the  test  of  intense  feeling,  is 
the  mightiest  helper  in  the  soul's  questionings  and 
struggles.  Here  it  is,  that  woman  has  a  sphere  of  in- 
fluence which,  while  it  does  not  jeopard  any  womanly 
interest  or  feeling,  invites  her  to  a  breadth  of  Chris- 
tian activity  limited  only  by  her  opportunities.  The 
recent  campaigns  for  Christ  in  evangelistic  services 


"WOMAN    IN   REVIVALS.  411 

have  enlarged  these  opportunities  beyond  anything 
the  world  has  known  before.  Woman's  sphere  is  no 
longer  confined  to  the  home  circle  or  the  Sunday 
school  class.  The  hushed  and  thronged  inquiry  rooms, 
protected  from  public  gaze  by  the  sanctity  of  the 
place,  afford  a  field  of  usefulness  in  personal  conver- 
sation, nearly  as  well  guarded  as  the  home  circle,  and 
vet  as  extensive  as  the  grand  revival  tendencies  can 
make  it.  In  this  field  the  labors  of  Christian  women 
have  been  blessed  to  the  salvation  of  thousands  of 
souls. 

It  is  evident  the  success  which  attended  the  conver- 
sations of  woman  with  inquirers  depends  largely  on  the 
judiciousness  with  which  the  work  is  planned.  It  is 
true  of  women  as  of  men  (and  no  more  so),  that  many 
need,  above  all  things,  to  be  wisely  repressed.  With  an 
intemperate  zeal  and  little  discretion,  and  perhaps  no 
experience,  they  sometimes  rush  in  where  people  of 
larger  experience  would  bashful  tread.  With  many 
there  is  absent  a  sense  of  the  "  fitness  of  things,"  and 
they  do  more  harm  than  possible  good,  alike  in  their 
daring  selection  of  people  to  talk  with,  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  do  it.  The  remedy  for  these  and 
other  perils,  to  which  ignorant  and  foolish,  but  well- 
meaning  people  expose  every  revival  season,  is  in  a 
wise  guidance  of  inquiry  room  work  on  the  part  of 
the  person  having  the  meeting  in  charge.  It  cannot 
be  left  to  run  itself.  And  nowhere* will  the  good 
judgment  of  a  leader  be  more  severely  tested  than  in 
his  management  of  the  personal  conversations.  He 
will  remand  the  forward  and  unqualified  to  the  back- 
ground, or  gather  them  together  in  a  group  where 


412  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

they  may  mutually  learn  from  each  other.  He  will 
usually  assign  women  to  converse  with  women  of  like 
circumstances  and  condition.  He  will  seek  to  know 
the  natural  lines  of  personal  influence,  and  follow 
them.  To  those  who  have  been  in  great  trouble,  he 
will  try  to  bring  a  voice  modulated  by  like  experience. 
To  those  in  doubt  and  intellectual  hesitation,  he  will 
bring  one  whose  feet  have  wandered  in  and  through  a 
similar  wilderness,  and  so  around  all  the  room,  he 
will,  as  he  may  be  able,  select  guides  for  the  anxious 
who,  by  their  training,  their  circumstances,  their  nat- 
ural sympathies  of  age  or  rank,  or  trial  or  occupation, 
may  have  most  influence  to  teach,  persuade  and  de- 
cide. 

Should  women  converse  only  with  women?  Not 
at  all.  It  is,  perhaps,  most  natural  that  ordinarily 
this  should  be  the  case.  But  there  are  many  circum- 
stances which  would  render  it  desirable  that  women 
should  converse  with  anxious  men.  There  arT3  condi- 
tions, even  of  intellectual  difficulty,  which  may  best 
be  met  by  intelligent  women.  Within  the  past  few 
months  a  case  in  point  came  under  our  observation. 
A  young  skeptic  of  remarkable  intelligence,  and 
some  pride  of  skeptical  opinion,  had  been  successive- 
ly conversed  with  by  many  evangelists,  pastors,  and 
others.  He  was  evidently  somewhat  impressed  witli 
the  need  of  spiritual  life  and  help;  every  attempt  to 
bring  him  face  to  face  with  Christ  he  would  ward  off 
by  propounding  difficult  questions  in  speculative  the- 
ology. Every  appeal  was  met  either  by  argument 
or  by  some  cynical  remark  which  neutralized  its 
effect.      At  length,  one  evening  the  leader  of  the  in- 


WOMAN   IN   REVIVALS.  413 

quiry  meeting  introduced  Mr.  A.  to  a  Christian 
woman.  His  first  remark  was,  "  So  you  have  come 
to  interview  me."  The  reply  was,  "No,  I  do  not  know 
enough  for  that.  I  want  you  to  interview  me,  or 
rather  let  us  both  interview  the  Bible  and  see  what 
we  can  learn."  Somewhat  disarmed  by  this  reply,  his 
tone  changed,  and  he  expressed  himself  very  willing 
to  have  a  conversation.  But  his  old  habit  returning 
upon  him,  he  propounded  one  after  another  of  the  in- 
tellectual difficulties  in  his  way.  The  lady  met  each 
one  by  saying,  "  I  cannot  answer  you.  I  will  not  pre- 
tend to;  but  let  us  see  what  God  says  about  it;"  and 
then  opening  the  Bible  she  would  read  such  passages 
as  gave  a  Divine  answer  to  the  inquiry.  In  this  way 
he  was  pressed  by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  from  point 
to  point/until  unable  longer  to  continue  the  struggle, 
he  sprang  to  his  feet  exclaiming,  "This  question  must 
be  settled  to-night.  Pray  for  me."  The  result  was 
his  conversion — not  as  the  result  of  the  argument  he 
coveted — but  of  a  judicious  use  of  Divine  truth.  In- 
stances of  this  sort  might  be  indefinitely  multiplied. 
They  prove  that  the  superior  conversational  powers 
of  women  have  found  a  field  new  and  wide,  and  tell- 
ing upon  the  highest  of  human  interests.  Henceforth, 
can  it  be  doubted,  the  qualities  of  mind  and  heart 
that  have  made  so  many  parlors  sources  of  great  so- 
cial influence,  will  be  more  freely  used  in  commend- 
ing to  society  the  grand  themes  and  the  blessed 
hopes  of  the  Christian  religion? 

Wise  we  have  been  in  our  lectures  and  sermons, 
our  books  and  essays.  Our  literature  has  stamped 
our  religion  with  its  lofty  sign,  and  the  two  have 


414  TIME6  OF  REFRESHING. 

gone  forth  in  splendid  promise  together.  Meantime 
our  conversation  has  often  been  puerile,  often  empty, 
often  worse.  Surely  the  close  contact  of  mind  with 
mind  in  the  freedom  of  social  life,  should  not  be  left 
to  the  domination  of  gossip.  It  is  sometimes  said  of 
American  people  that  conversing  is  a  lost  art  among 
them.  They  talk  grandly  in  public  address,  but  chat- 
ter unworthily  in  their  parlors.  If  it  be  so,  our  women 
are  most  of  all  responsible  for  it.  Men  set  the  key 
of  debates  and  lectures,  hut  women  give  the  pitch  of 
conversation.  If  it  be  trifling,  maiifly  on  them  will 
rest  the  blame.  If  ennobling,  to  them  belongs  the 
honor.  But  the  highest  aim  of  conversation  should 
be  to  develop  life  toward  its  best  end.  There  is  one 
theme  which  unfailingly  will  do  it.  It  is  in  the 
power  of  women  to  regenerate  society,  lift  it  out  of 
vapidity  and  gossip  into  the  noblest  realm  of  human 
thought,  by  daring  to  make  Christian  faith,  life  and 
hope,  a  free  and  open  subject  of  parlor  talk.  The  world 
is  to  be  converted,  not  by  the  stately  artillery  that  is 
reserved  for  intellectual  battles,  but  by  the  impact 
of  heart  on  heart  in  office  and  shop  and  parlor  and 
kitchen.  In  this  personal  address  women  are  peer- 
less. Let  them  use  their  tine  intuitions  and  their 
ready  art  of  apt  and  feeling  speech  for  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  and  they  may  do  more  for  the  spread  of 
that  kingdom  than  Mercurius,  by  his  dialectic  skill, 
or  Boanerges,  by  his  resounding  eloquence. 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 

GOSPEL   TEMPERANCE.— ITS  RISE,  PROGRESS  AND 
METHODS. 

The  historian  who,  from  the  calmer  distance  of 
future  years,  shall  review  the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
temperance  reform  in  our  country  will  most  probably 
date  the  truest  progress  from  Christmas  morning, 
1873.  That  date  marks  the  beginning  of  the  Wo- 
man's Praying  Crusade.  On  Christinas  eve  Dr.  Dio 
Lewis  was  telling  the  people  of  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  the 
pathetic  story  of  the  first  woman's  crusade.  His  own 
mother,  the  wife  of  a  drunkard,  and  a  number  of  other 
women  whose  hearts  God  had  touched,  visited  the 
saloon  keeper  and  prayed  with  and  for  him,  and  be- 
sought him  to  give  up  the  traffic  that  was  bringing 
death  to  so  many  homes.  Their  prayers  were  answered 
-the  saloon  was  closed.  The  heroism  and  faith  of  that 
sainted  woman  seemed  to  descend  upon  the  audience.' 
They  pledged  themselves  to  a  like  effort  to  rescue  the 
perishing,  and  at  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning  a 
band  of  believing,  heart-burdened  women  gathered  in 
the  Presbyterian  church  for  a  season  of  counsel  with 
God,  and  then  went  out  on  their  holy  mission.  The 
world  called  it  fanaticism.  The  church  in  many 
quarters  named  it  kt  impracticable  enthusiasm." 
But   fanaticism   has  often  been  consecrated  by  grand 


116  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

results,  and  enthusiasm  never  better  vindicated  for 
itself  the.  original  meaning  of  the  word  than  in  the  wo- 
man's crusade.  If  ever  labors  were  undertaken  "  in 
God,"  if  ever  that  holy  name  was  made  the  beginning 
and  end  of  work,  it  was  so  in  the  united  endeavor  of 
hearts,  that  long  had  bled  under  the  pressure  of  a  pit- 
iless curse,  to  find  relief  by  the  way  of  the  throne. 

The  story  is  a  familiar  one.  How  the  crusade 
swept  like  a  whirlwind  of  sacred  fire,  first,  through 
the  towns  and  villages  of  central  and  southern  Ohio, 
how  it  reached  Cincinnati  and  Cleveland,  enlisting  in 
it,  in  each  city,  many  of  the  truest,  most  accomplished 
and  influential  women,  how  it  widened  into  other  West- 
ern States, — Indiana,  Michigan,  Illinois  and  Wiscon- 
sin,— until  almost  every  community  was  ablaze  with  a 
holy  purpose  to  crush  out  the  monster  iniquity  with  on 
wave  of  Christian  resolution, — all  this  is  still  fresh  in 
every  mind.  Within  six  months  it  had  enlisted  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  Christian  women  under  its  hau- 
lier of  prayer.  Within  six  months  more  it  had  whol- 
ly ceased ;  a  fact  at  which  the  finger  of  critical  scorn  is 
significantly  pointed,  as  if  the  subsidence  of  these 
waves  proved  that  the  water  had  evaporated.  This  is 
not  so.  The  methods  may  not  have  been  practicable. 
It  took  the  sober  second  thought  to  find  it  out. 
The  passion  of  the  movement  hurried  it  to  hurtful 
extremes.  Nothing  great  is  done  without  extremes. 
It  is  the  overflow  of  the  Nile  that  makes  the  harvest. 
It  is  the  overflow  of  human  hearts  that  enriches  God's 
heritage. 

There  was  an  adequate  reason  for  the  woman's 
crusade.     The  wonder  is   less  that  it  ever  came  than 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE. 


417 


that  it  ever  ceased.  Woman's  wrongs  from  intemper- 
ance are  broad,  and  strong  enough  to  force  from  every 
woman's  heart  one  endless  prayer:  "How  long,  O 
Lord,  how  long!"  They  are  deep  and  keen  enough 
to  merge  all  womanly  modesty  and  weakness  in 
ntter  self-forgetf illness  and  a  strength  that  is  born  of 
despair.  The  rise  of  the  crusade  is  therefore  readily 
explained.  The  fervor  with  which  it  swept  over  half 
a  dozen  states  is  no  marvel.  The  cyclone  had  long 
been  forming.  It  needed  only  one  strong  hand  of 
faith  in  God  to  unbind  its  wings. 

The  crusade  was  not  without  good  effects.  It 
taught  the  Christian  Church  the  extent  of  the  en- 
trenchments of  the  liquor  traffic,  and  that  the  victory 
would  not  be  hastily  achieved.  The  insults  heaped 
upon  the  bands  of  praying  women  opened  many  eyes 
to  the  true  character  of  the  giant  iniquity.  The  mob 
that  surged  through  the  streets  of  Cleveland,  bore 
down  with  brutal  fury  upon  a  company  of  helpless 
women,  assaulted  them  with  fists  and  stones  and 
brick-bats,  sounded  in  the  ears  of  the  Church  the  long 
roll  of  battle.  If  the  crusade  had  accomplished  noth- 
ing else  than  to  arouse  the  Christian  community  to  a 
sense  of  the  vastness  and  recklessness  of  the  liquor 
interest  in  its  assaults  upon  manhood  and  woman- 
hood, homes  and  society,  it  would  have  done  a  worthy 
work.  For  the  sake  of  this  conviction,  society  could 
forgive  the  excesses,  and  bend  its  head  in  grateful 
acknowledgment  of  the  faith  and  the  heroism. 

But  the  crusade  did  more  than  measure  the  lines  of 
the  approaching  conflict.  We  are  often  told  its  actual 
effect  upon  the  wrong  which  it  battled  was  wholly 


418  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

imperceptible,  While  we  regard  its  direct  results  as 
by  far  the  most  unimportant,  we  cannot  ignore  the 
fact  that  in  the  few  months  of  passionate  prayer  and 
wholly  unorganized  labor,  some  tangible  results  are 
left  to  record.  In  scores  of  towns  in  Ohio  saloons 
were  closed  that  have  never  since  been  opened.  Let 
it  be  granted  that  in  many  cases,  with  the  subsidence  of 
the  excitement  came  the  reopening  of  the  saloons. 
Some  of  them  are  closed  forever.  In  some  of  those 
towns — though  the  praying  bands  no  longer  kneel  in 
the  streets  and  no  longer  chant  their  Miriam  songs  of 
deliverance — so  persistent  and  admonitory  is  the 
force  of  public  opinion,  that  the  blinds  remain  over 
the  windows  and  the  bolts  turned  in  the  doors  of 
places  in  which  once  raged  constantly  the  Moloch 
fires  that  consumed  the  goodliest  sons  and  brothers- 
It  also  affected  the  legislature  of  Ohio.  More  than 
twenty  years  ago,  a  clause  had  been  put  in  the  con- 
stitution forbidding  the  granting  of  license.  A  new 
constitution  was  to  be  submitted  to  the  people  and 
they  were  again  asked  whether  they  would  have  license 
or  no  license.  The  praying  women,  blending  work 
with  their  prayers,  set  themselves  to  defeat  the  license 
clause.  The  state  has  probably  never  been  so  excited 
over  any  issue.  The  result  was  glorious,  the  new 
constitution  and  its  license  clause  were  buried  beyond 
hope  of  resurrection.  For  this  result  the  state  is  largely 
indebted  to  the  temperance  women  of  the  state — their 
prayers  and  organized  action.  It  was  one  of  the  fruits 
of  the  crusade. 

But    the    chief   value   of  the    woman's  crusade  was 
twofold.     First  it    was  a  fiery  skirmish  line  to  meas- 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  419 

lire  the  enemy's  forces,  to  discover  their  batteries  and 
mark  the  arrangement  and  temper  of  the  forces.  It 
thus  impressed  on  the  Church  the  need  of  compact 
and  thorough  organization.  Second^  it  brought  into 
prominence  in  the  temperance  reform  the  almighty 
agent  of  prayer.  This,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  is 
the  grandeur  of  the  crusade.  In  its  first  desperate 
sally,  it  made  a  use  of  prayer  not  always  to  be  com- 
mended. It  absurdly  expected  in  one  day  the  victory 
which  may  require  years.  But  its  cardinal  principle 
of  driving  out  this  raging  devil  from  our  communities 
and  the  hearts  of  our  friends  through  the  instrument- 
ality of  an  appeal  to  the  Lord  of  hosts,  is  both  phil- 
osophical and  Scriptural.  And  when  all  the  weak- 
nesses and  follies  and  extravagances  of  the  crusade 
are  properly  discounted  from  it,  this  will  remain  as 
the  crown  of  its  glory,  which  no  wilcluess  of  measures 
can  dim,  no  apparent  failures  can  take  away.  The  pray- 
ing women  have  told  us  that  prayer  is  to  be  the  meas- 
ure of  success;  that  he  lights  this  battle  best,  who  lights 
it  on  his  knees.  When  the  effervescence  of  public  agi- 
tation over  the  crusade  had  passed  away,  and  the 
worldly  wise  were  loud  in  their  denunciations  of  this 
temperance  fanaticism  there  was  one  crystal  at  the 
bottom  of  the  crucible.  In  its  heart  shone  the  double 
light  of  a  long  experience  and  a  Scripture  truth: 
Wi  This  kind  goeth  not  out  but  by  fasting  and  prayer." 
The  woman's  crusade  was  tentative,  but  it  took 
only  a  few  months  to  reach  its  conclusions.  These 
conclusions  became  the  base  lines  for  future  and  ex- 
tensive, and  we  believe  victorious  operations.  The 
first  is  expressed  in  the  word  organization;  the  second. 


420  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

in  tlie  word  prayer.  The  first  means  the  best  of  human 
wisdom  and  endeavor;  the  second  means  the  arm  of 
God.  By  the  right  union  of  these  two,  every  great 
moral  work  is  done;  by  their  union  intemperance 
must  be  conquered.     Let   us  look  at  them  separately. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The  praying  bands  had  not  knelt  long  in  the  sa- 
loons and  the  streets  before  they  became  convinced 
that  with  their  prayers  must  be  united  prudent,  or- 
ganized labors.  This  conviction  was  the  origin  of  a 
most  powerful  aid  in  the  temperance  battle — the 
"Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union. 
We  cannot  better  show  how  the  one  rose  out  of  the 
other  than  by  quoting  the  words  of  Miss  Frances  E. 
Willard,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Union: 
"The  woman's  prajdng  bands — earnest,  impetuous, 
inspired — became  the  Woman's  Temperance  Unions, 
firm,  patient,  persevering.  The  praying  bands  were 
without  leadership,  save  that  which  inevitably  results 
from  '  the  survival  of  the  fittest.'  The  Woman's 
Unions  are  regularly  officered  in  the  usual  way.  The 
first  wrought  their  grand  pioneer  work  in  sublime  in- 
difference to  prescribed  forms  of  procedure,  '  so  say 
we  all  of  us,' being  the  spirit  of  '  motions,'  often 
made,  seconded  and  carried  by  the  chair,  while  the 
assembled  women  nodded  their  earnest  acquiescence. 
The  second  are  possessed  with  good,  strong  constitu- 
tions (with  by-laws  annexed),  and  follow  the  order  of 
business  with  a  dutiful  regard  to  parliamentary 
usage.  In  the  first,  women  who  had  never  lifted  up 
their  voices  in   their   own  church   prayer  meetings, 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  421 

stood  before  thousands,  and  <  spoke  as  they  were 
moved.'  In  the  second,  these  same  women,  with 
added  experience,  and  a  host  of  others,  who  have 
since  enlisted,  impress  the  public  thought  and  con- 
science by  utterances  carefully  considered.  The 
praying  bands,  hoping  for  immediate  victory,  pressed 
their  members  into  immediate  service.  The  Woman's 
Unions,  aware  that  the  battle  is  to  be  a  long  one,  ask 
only  for  such  help  as  can  be  given  consistently  with 
other  duties." 

In  the  spring  of  1874  the  praying  bands  called  con- 
ventions in  the  various  States  for  consultation.  They 
were  at  first  called  State  Temperance  Leagues,  a  name 
which  was  afterwards  changed  to  Unions,  as  better 
expressing  the  spirit  of  their  purpose.  These  socie- 
ties were  confederated  in  a  National  Temperance 
Union,  which  met  in  the  city  of  Cleveland,  November 
18th,  19th,  20th,  1874,  and  was  attended  by  delegates 
from  sixteen  different  States.  The  spirit  of  the  con- 
vention is  contained  in  the  following  resolution: 

Resolved,  That  recognizirjg  the  fact  that  our  cause  is,  and  is  to 
be,  combated  by  mighty,  determined,  relentless  forces,  we  will, 
trusting  in  Him  who  is  the  Prince  of  Peace,  meet  argument  with 
argument,  misjudgment  with  patience,  denunciation  with  kind- 
ness, and  all  our  difficulties  and  dangers  with  prayer. 

Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmeyer,  of  Philadelphia,  a  veteran 
worker  in  temperance  reform,  was  chosen  President; 
Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  Corresponding  Secretary; 
Mrs.  Mary  C.  Johnson,  of  Brooklyn,  Recording  Se- 
cretary; Mrs.  Mary  Ingham,  of  Cleveland,  Treasurer; 
with  one  Yice-President  from  each  State  in  the  con- 
vention. 


422  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

The  very  first  year  of  its  history  was  a  year  of  suc- 
cessful work,  and  when  they  held  their  first  annual 
meeting  in  Cincinnati,  November,  1875,  they  re- 
ported delegates  from  twenty-two  States  in  the  Union, 
— local  organizations,  active  and  flourishing,  from 
Maine  to  Nebraska,  and  the  blocking  out  of  well- 
considered  plans  for  every  phase  of  temperance  work. 
The  banner  States  in  this  "  Union  "  are  Ohio,  Indiana, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Iowa.  New  York  was 
especially  active  and  successful  in  its  work.  In 
Brooklyn  over  twenty-live  hundred  saloon  visits  had 
been  made,  and  the  Bible  and  temperance  literature 
freely  distributed.  In  fourteen  months  a  thousand 
and  ten  saloons  had  been  closed,  and  three  hundred 
and  twenty-six  saloon  keepers  induced  to  suspend 
their  traffic  on  the  Sabbath  clay.  Gospel  temperance 
meetings  had  been  held  in  jails  and  inebriate  asylums. 
In  New  York  city  also  decided  progress  had  been  made. 
Besides  the  daily  prayer  meeting  in  the  hall  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  gospel  temper- 
ance meetings  had  been  held  in  Water  Street,  Mag- 
dalene Asylum,  the  Tombs  and  Belleviue  Hospital. 
A  thousand  saloons  had  been  visited,  and  many  had 
permanently  closed  their  doors. 

Ohio,  which  was  first  in  this  war,  reported  a  most 
thorough  organization  throughout  the  State;  as 
many  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  local  societies,  two 
hundred  Friendly  Inns  or  coffee  houses,  reading 
rooms,  juvenile  societies  and  leagues  in  great  num- 
ber. In  Indiana,  in  addition  to  the  moral  and  per- 
sonal work,  the  interest  took  the  practical  form  of 
contesting   the  application  for  licenses  in  the  Com- 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  423 

missioner's  Court.  Out  of  three  hundred  and  live 
permits  to  sell,  a  hundred  and  thirty-eight  were  de- 
feated at  the  March  term  in  1874.  In  this  State, 
also,  there  are  over  two  hundred  local  societies,  man)' 
juvenile  organizations,  reading  rooms,  temperance 
halls  and  kindred  auxiliaries  for  enlightening  public 
sentiment  and  resisting  the  tide  of  destruction. 

The  practical  good   sense  of  the  National  Temper- 
ance Union,  the  thoroughness  and  comprehensiveness  • 
of  its  organization,  may  be  judged  by  the  following  rec- 
ommendations, adopted  by  the  second  national  con- 
vention: 

First,  the  establishing  of  a  lyceum  bureau,  which 
should  furnish  organizers,  readers,  speakers,  etc.,  for 
communities  desiring  to  organize. 

Second,  to  arrange  a  plan  by  which  young  women 
may  actively  engage  in  the  work. 

Third,  to  appoint  a  medical  commission  to  investi- 
gate the  medical  use  of  alcohol  and  its  effect  upon 
the  country. 

Fourth,  to  appoint  a  commission  on  Bible  wines. 
Fifth,  a  committee  on  presenting  the  cause  to  min- 
isterial,  Sunday   school,    educational,    medical    and 
other  associations. 

The  work  of  the  organization  of  Temperance 
Unions,  North  and  South,  East  and  West,  is  going 
steadily  forward,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Woman's 
Unions,  in  New  England  and  New  York  city.  Dr. 
Henry  A.  Reynolds  has  been  instrumental  in  the  ref- 
ormation of  twenty  thousand  drinking  men  in  the 
East;  and  later,  under  the  flag  of  the  Red  Ribbon 
Crusade,  many  thousands  more  in  Michigan  and  other 
Western  States. 


424  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

Thomas  Murphy,  also,  began  his  work  under  these 
auspices.     Of  that  we  shall  speak  in  another  place. 

This  and  other  organizations,  the  direct  results  of 
the  great  awakening  caused  by  the  Woman's  Crusade, 
are  practical  expressions  of  an  increasing  purpose  of 
the  Christian  men  and  women  of  the  country  to  unite 
in  every  wise  effort  to  put  to  an  end  the  ravages  of 
the  destroyer. 

PRAYER. 

They  greatly  mistake  who  suppose  that  because 
street  praying  and  saloon  visiting  had  been  largely 
abandoned,  therefore  there  had  been  nothing  left  of 
the  Woman's  Crusade.  The  basal  idea  of  it  remains, 
and  is  to-day  the  mightiest  factor  in  the  reform.  Al- 
though we  have  headed  this  section,  "Prayer,"  as  ex- 
pressing the  central  thought,  Gospel  Temperance  is 
more  than  a  prayer  meeting.  It  is  praying,  preach- 
ing, personal  appeals,  printing,  and  every  other  moral 
influence  all  in  one.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  con- 
viction we  have  written  above,  that  intemperance 
must  be  fought  with  the  gospel.  In  this  respect  it 
does  not  differ  from  other  sins  or  crimes.  Deeply 
imbedded  in  the  midst  of  society,  there  is  only  one 
lever  strong  enough  to  lift  it  out:  that  lever  is  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  Christian  world  is  just  beginning  to  learn  how 
sovereign  a  remedy  for  all  the  ills  of  life,  is  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus;  just  beginning,  though  faintly,  to  be- 
lieve, that  when  argument,  entreaty,  resolution  and 
human  love  have  failed,  the  gospel  of  Christ  with  one 
blow  can  break  the  fetters   that   bind  the  inebriate. 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  425 

The  general  idea  that  prayer  can  save  a  drunkard, 
ante-dates  the  woman's  crusade,  but  it  was  held  ex- 
ceptionally and  feebly  believed  in  by  individuals  whose 
experience  had  happily  tested  it,  rather  than  by  the 
Church  as  a  Scriptural  and  eternal  truth. 

The  idea  remained  an  isolated  fact.  It  had  no* 
passed  into  a  law  of  Christian  truth  and  life.  If  the 
mother  of  Dio  Lewis  had  seen  her  husband  saved 
from  drunkenness  through  her  prayers,  if  other  women 
had  seen  the  conversion  of  their  sons  through  the 
same  agency,  these  cases  were  thankfully  acknowl- 
edged as  special  instances  of  divine  interposition,  but 
were  not  accepted  as  facts  of  a  divine  law.  Whether 
confirmed  drunkards  could  be  saved  at  all,  was  often 
doubted;  whether  they  could  be  instantly  saved  from 
the  power  of  appetite  was  usually  disbelieved. 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  gospel  temperance  in 
the  present  revivals  is  this:  prayer  for  drunkards  is 
within  the  realm  of  the  premise,  u  Ask  and  ye  shall 
receive."  It  is  as  easy  for  God  to  save  the  drunkard 
as  any  other  sinner,  and  in  answer  to  believing  prayer 
He  will  do  it.  That  salvation  includes  not  only 
the  pardon  of  sins,  but  the  destruction  or  repression 
of  appetite;  not  only  the  freedom  from  condemnation, 
but  freedom  from  the  power  of  the  tempter.  Let  us 
briefly  follow  the  progress  and  mark  the  victory  of 
this  creed. 

Gospel  temperance  is  assuming  a  more  and  more 
important  place  in  the  labors  of  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey.  In  Philadelphia  the  revival  resulted  in  the 
conversion  of  many  drunkards.  In  New  York  the 
Friday  noon  prayer-meeting  was  set   apart  especially 


426  TIMES   OF  REFRESHING. 

for  temperance.  Requests  for  prayer  for  friends  in 
the  bondage  of  intemperance  came  from  all  parts  of 
the  East.  The  meetings  were  crowded,  and  many  re- 
markable conversions  attested  the  power  of  God  and 
his  favor  on  that  phase  of  the  Tabernacle  work. 
Among  the  notable  cases  of  reformation,  or — as  Mr. 
Moody  prefers  to  call  it — regeneration,  was  that  of 
an  Englishman,  who  was  obliged  to  flee  from  his  own 
country  to  escape  legal  penalty  for  his  crimes.  His 
conscience  became  aroused  and  he  endeavored  to  re- 
form. Every  endeavor  resulted  in  failure.  At  length 
he  determined  to  try  prayer.  Although  not  a  Chris- 
tian, for  several  weeks"  he  overcame  the  tempter,  by  an 
appeal  in  every  moment  of  temptation  to  the  name  of 
Jesus.  It  gave  him  hope  that  on  this  path  his  vic- 
tory would  come.  He  came  to  the  Hippodrome,  and 
in  great  earnest  sought  the  pardon  and  grace  of  the 
Savior.  He  did  not  seek  in  vain,  and  has  since  been 
an  active  temperance  and  Christian  man.  The  tem- 
perance work  in  New  York  resulted  in  the  reclama- 
tion of  nearly  a  thousand  intemperate  men;  most  of 
whom,  it  is  believed,  are  firm  and  steadfast  at  the 
present  time. 

But  it  was  in  Chicago  this  work  first  developed 
into  a  special  department  of  the  gospel  meetings. 

Mr.  Moody  found  in  that  city  an  efficient  arm  of 
temperance  service,  ready  to  lend  him  its  aid.  That 
was  the  well-organized  and  well-managed  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union.  Since  1874,  it  had 
fought  the  battle  in  various  ways,  and  with  various 
successes.  At  one  time  it  had  gathered  up  a  mon- 
strous petition  againstopen  saloons  on  Sunday,  and  had 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  427 

carried  it  to  the  common  cou  ncil.  At  other  times,  in 
quiet  and  unoticed  ways,  it  had  reached  its  hands  in 
many  directions,  to  strengthen  the  tempted,  encour- 
age the  struggling,  succor  the  desolate  households, 
and  save  the  drunkard  for  time  and  eternity.  It  was 
a  center  of  humble  prayer,  and  of  organized,  judicious 
and  courageous  work.  It  was  a  living  link  between 
the  praying  crusade  and  Mr.  Moody's  gospel  meet- 
ings. With  the  help  of  this  Union,  the  temperance 
work  became  at  the  very  first  an  important  part  of 
the  Tabernacle  meetings. 

Friday  noon  of  each  week  was  set  apart  for  this 
special  work.  From  the  very  first,  these  meetings 
were  the  fullest  day  meetings  of  all  the  week,  and  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  there  was  a  wonderful  latent  in- 
terest on  this  subject  that  only  needed  an  outlet  to 
spring  into  a  tremendous  activity.  Bequests  poured 
in,  not  only  from  all  parts  of  this  city,  but  from  vari- 
ous states  of  the  Northwest,  for  prayers  for  fathers, 
husbands,  sons  and  neighbors.  Almost  stimultan- 
eously  with  the  requests  for  prayer,  came  words  of 
thanksgiving  for  the  answer.  The  result  was  that  the 
faith  of  God's  people  was  greatly  enlarged  and 
strengthened.  Many  Christians,  for  the  first  time 
realized  that  here  is  a  lever,  which,  when  every  other 
has  broken,  has  power  to  lift  a  fallen  one  out  of  his  sins. 
Many  Christians  for  the  first  time  understood  that 
the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God  against  every  sin; 
that  it  is  not  one  kind  of  strength  we  need  to  destroy 
avarice,  revenge  or  selfishness,  and  another  to  over- 
come appetite.  Has  not  the  Church  been  sadly  heret- 
ical in  its  dealings  with  drunkards? 


428  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

We  fail  to  believe  God  can  break  the  tempter's 
power.  At  bottom,  we  think  if  an  intemperate  man 
ever  reforms,  it  must  be  through  a  slow  and  always 
doubtful  siege.  And  yet  we  believe  God  can  sudden- 
ly convert  a  blaspheming  Saul  into  an  Apostle  Paul; 
a  profane  sailor  into  a  John  Newton;  a  wretched  lib- 
ertine into  a  St.  Augustine.  It  is  only  in  the  ques- 
tion of  intemperance  that  our  theology  weakens.  We 
look  with  distrust  on  the  drunkard's  conversion,  and 
rather  expect  he  will  fall  away  again.  Perhaps  to  the 
coldness  and  lack  of  faith  of  the  church  is  due  the 
fact  that  he  so  often  does.  But  let  us  be  faithfully 
consistent.  A  drunkard  is  not  saved  by  his  resolu- 
tion. The  path  to  victory  is  not  along  an  uncertain 
battle-line.  As  with  every  other  sinner,  it  is  the  road 
of  faith.  The  gospel  has  power  to  break  up  a  human 
appetite  and  set  the  captive  free.  You  may  call  it  a 
miracle.  So  in  a  sense  is  every  conversion.  It  is,  in 
truth,  the  "expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection."  It 
is  the  new  and  higher  life  driving  out  the  old  and 
lower.  No  matter  what  the  kind  of  sin,  the  philoso- 
phy of  grace  is  the  same, — it  is  the  love  of  God  sup- 
planting the  love  of  the  world. 

When  the  church  acts  on  this  principle,  and  be- 
lie vingly  attacks  intemperance  with  "the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus,"  we  shall  see  drunkards  liberated  whom  every 
other  agency  has  failed  to  reach.  This  conviction  is 
the  heart  of  the  temperance  revival,  and  gave  such 
power  to  those  memorable  Fridays,  of  November 
and  December,  1876.  In  this  branch  of  his  labor,  in 
Chicago,  Mr.  Moody  had  the  assistance  of  a  man  es- 
pecially called  of  God  for  this  work,  and  particularly 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  429 

adapted,  botli  by  his  experience  and  his  gifts,  to  be 
greatly  instrumental  in  saving  drunkards. 

Charles  W.  Sawyer  was  born  in  Gloucester,  Mass., 
1835.  Left  without  a  father,  at  an  early  age 
he  fell  into  habits  of  dissipation.  Some  years  in 
the  employ  of  Jordan,  Marsh  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  and 
afterward  of  Clanin  &  Co.,  of  New  York,  his  path 
was  a  continual  descent,  until  he  reached  the  very 
depths  of  reckless  and  abandoned  drunkenness.  His 
mother,  who  no  longer  knew  whether  her  son  was 
dead  or  alive,  hoping  against  hope,  and  praying  almost 
against  her  own  despair,  clung  to  the  promises,  mean- 
time giving  herself  most  actively  to  temperance  labors, 
trying  to  save  the  sons  of  other  mothers,  in  hope  that 
God  would  send  some  one  to  her  own  boy  were  he 
still  alive.  He  gives  his  own  sorrowful  experience 
thus: 

kk  I  had  every  thing  behind  me  calculated  to  make 
my  life  a  success,  but  at  sixteen  years  of  age  I  began 
to  like  the  taste  of  blackberry  brandy,  and  the  appe- 
tite grew  upon  me  year  by  year — you  know  how  it  is, 
down,  down,  down,  all  the  time.  You  have  heard  of 
that  man  who  went  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho: 
he  fell  among  thieves  before  he  got  to  the  city,  but  I 
had  got  right  into  the  midst  of  Jericho.  I  was  so 
completely  lost  that  I  had  no  power  I  could  call  my 
own.  I  drank  myself  out  of  house  and  home,  and 
into  absolute  destitution.  I  had  eyes,  but  I  could  see 
nothing;  ears,  but  I  could  hear  nothing;  a  heart  that 
knew  nothing." 

While  in  this  condition,  a  wretched,  and  utterly 
hopeless  .drunkard,  he  stumbled  one  day  into  the  of- 


430  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

fice  of  a  Christian  lawyer  of  Poughkeepsie.  This 
lawyer  was  to  him  the  Good  Samaritan.  He  told  him 
he  understood  his  case;  that  he  himself  had  passed 
through  that  bitter  experience;  had  many  years  ago 
been  cured  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  had  since  been 
kept  from  falling.  He  preached  the  gospel  to  him; 
told  him  the  story  of  Naaman,  and  that  even  so,  he 
might  plunge  into  the  fountain  opened  for  sin  and 
uncleanness,  and  be  cleansed  at  once.  He  accepted 
the  message,  surrendered  himself  to  the  Savior  of  sin- 
ners, and  has  since  been  actively  engaged  in  rescuing 
others  from  the  pit  out  of  which  God  lifted  him- 
When  Mr.  Moody  began  his  meetings  in  New  York, 
he  found  this  earnest  man  preaching  Christ  in  the 
saloons.  He  at  once  engaged  his  help  there,  and  has 
kept  him  with  him  in  all  his  meetings  since.  Mr. 
Moody  makes  no  mistakes  in  the  selection  of  his  men. 
There  are  some  things  in  Mr.  Sawyer  not  unlike  the 
great  evangelist  himself.  The  same  buoyant,  cheerful 
and  hearty  manner,  the  same  consuming  purpose  to 
save  souls,  much  practical  tact,  discretion  and  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  and  above  all  an  unbounded 
faith  in  prayer.  He  has  little  faith  in  talk,  but  be- 
lieves with  all  his  heart  in  personal  labor.  In  this 
he  is  especially  successful.  He  remembers  the  Dame, 
condition  and  circumstances  of  the  large  number  of 
drunkards  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact  in  the 
meetings;  bears  each  case  upon  his  heart  as  though 
it  were  the  only  one,  and  inspires  every  man  of  them 
with  the  conviction  that  in  Mr.  Sawyer  he  has  found 
:i  friend  and  a  brother.  To  his  industry,  perseverance, 
and  tireless  energy,  the  temperance  work  in  the  Tab- 
ernacle is  very  largely  indebted. 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  431 

At  one  of  the  first  temperance  meetings  in  Farwell 
Hall,  Mr.  Moody  read  a  letter  from  a  praying  father 
and  mother  in  Scotland,  begging  him  to  find  their 
wandering  boy.  He  besought  the  wanderer,  if  through 
the  newspaper  reports  the  fact  of  his  parents'  anxiety 
should  come  to  his  knowledge,  to  come  to  Christ  and 
be  saved.  Mr.  Sawyer,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  tem- 
perance work,  made  it  his  special  business  to  find 
"  Willie."  For  six  weeks  he  had  searched  and  in- 
quired, but  in  vain.  The  meetings  were  drawing  to  a 
close.  It  seemed  as  if  the  lost  one  would  not  be 
found.  But  there  was  a  mother  praying  in  Scotland, 
and  there  was  a  prayer-hearing  God  on  the  throne. 
On  a  Friday  in  December,  a  young  man  came  up  to 
Mr.  Sawyer  casualty  and  addressed  him.  He  was  not 
seeking  Christ.  As  we  would  say,  he  happened  to 
meet  Mr.  Sawyer  and  happened  to  speak  to  him.  Mr. 

Sawyer  asked  him  his  name.     It  was  "Willie !" 

Mr.  Sawyer  said,  "  I  have  been  seeking  you  for  six 
weeks."  "How  is  that?"  said  the  young  man,  with 
astonishment;  "  you  do  not  know  me."  Then  he  was 
told  of  his  mother's  letter  and  prayers  and  love,  and 
the  prayers  of  God's  people  here.  That  broke  his 
heart.  And  on  Friday,  December  15th,  he  stood  up 
and  told  a  story  that  melted  the  whole  audience  to 
tears.  Years  ago  he  married  a  beautiful  girl,  a  min- 
ister's daughter.  Already  he  had  begun  his  down- 
ward course.  His  wife,  who  had  been  his  guardian 
angel,  soon  died.  They  had  a  little  girl.  He  left  her 
— left  his  father  and  mother — and  became  a  homeless 
wanderer.  When  about  to  start  for  Australia,  his  lit- 
tle girl,  kissing  him  good^by,  said,  "  You  will  not  be 


432  TIMES   OF    REFRESHING 

gone  long,  papa."  He  had  not  seen  her  since.  He 
had  gone  the  world  around — a  very  prodigal,  full  of 
sin  and  shame,  but  now  prayer  had  been  answered; 
God  had  brought  the  lost  one  home.  We  think  we 
had  never  witnessed  a  scene  like  that.  Strong:  men 
fairly  sobbed,  and  the  whole  audience  was  in  tears. 
Mr.  Moody,  with  a  voice  broken  with  sobs,  gave 
thanks  for  answered  prayer  and  cried  to  God  to  keep 
the  boy,  by  his  grace,  unto  eternal  life. 

Thus  from  Friday  to  Friday,  from  day  to  day,  in 
the  Tabernacle,  in  Far  well  Hall  and  in  the  churches 
this  temperance  work  went  on. 

It  reached  every  class  in  the  community.  Early  in 
the  meetings,  a  prominent  business  man,  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  a  man  of  culture  and  social  posi- 
tion, but  who,  for  many  years  had  been  a  respectable 
but  confirmed  drunkard,  was  saved  from  his  appetite, 
and  became  a  great  help  to  Mr.  Sawyer,  and  has 
since,  as  president  of  the  Reformed  Men's  Tem- 
perance Union,  been  doing  a  noble  work  for  Christ. 
By  his  side  on  the  platform  at  a  Friday-noon  meet- 
ing might  be  seen  a  Yorkshire  man,  with  a  dialect  as 
broad  as  Tennyson's  Old  Farmer,  telling  on  every 
occasion  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  him  in 
saving  him  after  fifty  years  of  drunkenness.  But  he 
could  do  more  than  talk  Yorkshire.  Night  after 
night,  with  his  arms  full  of  loaves  of  bread  and  his 
heart  fall  of  the  gospel,  he  would  wend  his  way  to 
some  of  the  low  lodging  dens  of  the  city,  where  men 
and  women,  in  poverty,  tilth  and  mire,  were  living 
like  rats.  There,  while  he  stilled  their  clamor  by  feed- 
ing them  bread,  he  poured  into  their  astonished  ears 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  433 

the  story  of  his  salvation,  and  told  them  there  was 
hope  now,  even  for  them.  Now  and  then,  one  would 
creep  out  of  the  shadows  of  the  horrible  place,  and 
listen  in  tears,  while  he  told  of  the  love  of  Jesus  for 
his  soul. 

We  have  said  this  work  extended  into  the  churches 
Women  with  drunken  husbands  took  heart  again,  and 
asked  the  prayers  of  Christians  for  their  darkened 
homes.  Many  were  the  answers  to  these  prayers, 
that  to  our  unbelieving  ears  sound  like  romances. 
Families  that  long  had  been  separated  were  bound 
together  in  the  bands  of  Christian  love.  Sons,  who 
had  long  been  prodigals,  came  home  to  find  in  un- 
changed human  love  a  welcome  as  boundless  as  had 
been  granted  them  in  the  mercy  of  God. 

On  a  Saturday  evening  in  November,  a  pastor  re- 
ceived a  message  from  a  woman  in  his  congregation, 
at  that  lime  not  a  Christian,  desiring  him  to  come  at 
once  and  try  to  calm  her  husband,  who  was  on  the 
ver<re  of  delirium  tremens.  He  was  a  Scotchman, 
had  been  trained  up  by  Christian  parents  in  the 
knowledge  and  faith  of  the  Bible.  He  was  the  very 
picture  of  wretchedness,  as,  with  his  throbbing  head 
held  between  his  hands,  he  paced  up  and  down  the 
room,  piteously  begging  for  just  one  glass  of  whisky, 
promising  by  all  that  was  sacred  that  after  that  night  he 
would  never  touch  it  again.  His  pastor  kindly  told  him 
it  was  not  whisky  he  wanted,  it  was  not  his  own  reso- 
lution that  would  avail,  but  that  he  needed  the  Great 
Physician,  who  alone  could  heal.  He  begged  him  to 
resist  the  tempta-tion  for  any  more  of  the  fire  which 
was  already  consuming  him,  by  casting  himself  upon 


434  tevies  or  refreshing. 

that  God  whom  he  had  once  professed  to  serve.  They 
kneeled  together  in  prayer.  The  trembling,  wretch- 
ed, but  now  thoroughly  penitent  man,  was  com- 
mended to  the  compassion  of  Christ.  At  the  next 
prayer-meeting  that  man  told  the  story  how  Jesus 
had  calmed  him  when  all  else  had  failed,  and  how 
He  had  received  the  wanderer  back.  He  sought  the 
prayers  of  the  church  for  his  unconverted  wife,  and 
in  a  few  weeks  they  both  made  a  public  profession  of, 
faith  in  Christ.  He  is  now  a  new  creature,  and  their 
home  is  as  happy  as  before  it  was  wretched.  Instan- 
ces of  this  kind  might  be  indefinitely  multiplied. 

As  the  meetings  drew  near  their  close  in  Chicago, 
they  increased  in  interest,  and  culminated  the  day 
after  Thanksgiving  in  one  of  the  most  heart-moving 
and  joyful  scenes  ever  witnessed  in  that  city.  It  was 
a  touching  sight  when  those  recently  rescued  from 
strong  drink,  in  trembling  but  exulting  tones, 
poured  out  in  gratitude  their  hearts  to  God  for  a 
happy  Thanksgiving  Day,  enjoyed  for  the  first  time 
in  five,  ten  and  even  twenty  years.  A  story  that 
brought  tears  to  every  eye  was  that  of  a  gentleman 
who  for  many  years  had  been  a  prominent  railroad 
official  in  Chicago.  Through  liquor  he  lost  his  posi- 
tion, his  friends,  his  home,  at  last  his  family.  lie 
had  become  a  vagabond  on  the  streets  of  the  city. 
Through  the  influence  of  some  Christian  friends  he 
was  brought  to  the  meetings,  was  converted,  and  on 
Thanksgiving  Day  his  wife  and  children  came  back 
to  him,  and  when  they  gathered  around  that  table, 
in  poverty,  indeed,  but  in  a  happiness  they  had  never 
known    before,    their  tears  of  joy   moistened   their 


GOSPEL    TEMrKRANCE.  435 

bread.  Afterward,  in  looking  about  for  work  to  sup- 
port his  family,  lie  applied  to  the  railroad  in  which 
he  had  once  been  an  officer,  and  thankfully  accepted 
the  place  of  baggage-porter. 

Mr.   Moody  comments  severely  on  those  who  are 
too  proud  or  too  lazy  to  work.     He  says  they  ought 
not  to  be  permitted  to  eat.     "When  he  was  President 
of  the   Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  in  Chi- 
cago, he   bought  several   cords   of  wood  and   had  it 
piled  in  a  vacant  lot.     He  also  invested  in  a  number 
of  saws  and  saw-bucks.     When  a  man  came  along  and 
wanted  help,  the  first  question  was:  "  Are  you  willing 
to  work?"     On  being  assured  by  the  applicant  there 
was  no  kind  of  work  he  would  not  cheerfully  do,  the 
shrewd   evangelist   would  bring  out  a  saw  and  saw- 
buck.     In   most  cases   the  man  was  suddenly  called 
away  upon  some  errand,  or  he  must  go  home  and  tell 
his  wife  he  had   found  work;  but  the  evangelist  never 
found  him  again.     That  wood  was   never  sawed  that 
winter.     The  incident  we  have  given  of  a  man  begin- 
ning at  the  very  bottom  of  the  ladder,  upon  the  top 
round  of  which  he  had  once  stood,  trying  by  honest 
and  faithful  toil  to  win  the  confidence  of  the  commu- 
nity in  which  he  lived,  is  by  no  means  a  solitary  case 
in  the  Chicago   revival.     It  is  to  be  written  down  at 
once  to  the  credit  of  Christian  business  men   and  to 
the  young  converts,  that  the  former  were  prompt  to 
help,- and    the  latter   faithful  in    the  work  that  was 
given    them    to    do.     To    this    statement    there    are, 
doubtless  exceptions;  but  the  general  fact  is  an  indi- 
cation of  the  genuineness  of  the  work. 

It  is  estimated  that  about  a  thousand  intemperate 


436  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

men  have  been  saved  in  and  around  Chicago,  as  the 
result  of  the  temperance  revival.  Several  hundred  of 
them,  just  before  the  close  of  the  Tabernacle  services, 
united  with  Mr.  Moody,  Mr.  Sawyer  and  other  Chris- 
tian friends,  in  a  supper  at  Farwell  Hall.  Many 
touching  experiences  were  given,  and  there,  in  that 
new  grand  brotherhood,  they  pledged  each  other  to 
strive  together  for  the  crown  of  Christian  manhood. 
After  the  meeting  in  the  Hall,  they  formed  in  a  col- 
umn, two  by  two,  and  marched  over  to  the  Tabernacle 
meeting,  making  the  streets  of  the  city  ring  with 
their  battle-cry,  "  Hold  the  Fort,  for  we  are  com- 
ing!" 

The  temperance  work,  so  far  from  stopping  with 
the  departure  of  Moody  and  Sawyer,  was  organized 
on  a  permanent  basis,  and  is  even  now  going  pa- 
tiently, steadily,  gloriously  forward.  The  Woman's 
Temperance  Union  holds  its  daily  prayer-meeting, 
and  makes  it  the  scene  of  constant  battle  with  drunk- 
enness. 

The  Reformed  Men's  Temperance  Society  is  also 
an  aggressive  and  constantly  successful  arm  of  this 
branch  of  Christian  service.  Mr.  Win.  H.  Mur- 
ray, its  President,  is  untiring  in  his  endeavors  to  give 
efficiency  and  power  to  the  society.  Its  two  channels 
of  activity  are  prayer  and  personal  labor,  and  through 
these  agencies  its  labors  are  being  continually  blessed 
in  the  salvation  of  souls.  This  society  is  realizing  the 
early  Christian  ideal  of  making  every  converted  man 
the  messenger  to  other  souls  of  the  tidings  of  life, 
There  are  no  honorary  members  in  its  ranks. 

In  Boston  the   temperance  work  assumed  propor- 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  437 

tions  it  had  not  elsewhere  reached.  Not  only  did 
Mr.  Moody  make  it  permeate  all  his  sermons  and  ef- 
forts, but  he  organized  it  with  a  breadth  and  thor- 
oughness elsewhere  unknown.  Mr.  Sawyer,  who  had 
purposed  remaining  in  Chicago  for  a  few  weeks  after 
the  departure  of  the  evangelist,  was  soon  telegraphed 
for  to  begin  the  temperance  revival  at  the  very 
inception  of  Tabernacle  work.  Miss  Frances  E. 
Willard,  the  accomplished  President  of  the  u  Union  " 
in  Chicago,  was  also  summoned  to  Boston  to  conduct 
the  work  among  the  women. 

The  first  Friday  meeting  at  the  Tabernacle  gave  prom- 
ise of  the  blessing  in  store  for  the  rum-divided  and 
troubled  households  of  the  city.  Mr.  Moody  took  for 
his  text,  1st  John  3:8:  "  For  this  purpose  the  Son  of 
God  was  manifested  that  he  might  destroy  the  works 
of  the  devil."  At  the  beginning  of  his  sermon  he 
raised  this  question:  u  What  are  we  going  to  do  to 
stem  this  terrible  torrent  of  iniquity?"  The  answer 
came  with  characteristic  brevity  and  decision.  It  is 
his  rallying  call  for  all  this  conflict:  "We  have  tried 
a  great  many  methods;  we  have  had  our  temperance 
societies  and  bands  of  hope,  our  lodges  and  our  re- 
form clubs,  and  we  have  had  the  pledge,  and  I  don't 
know  but  I  am  getting  discouraged  with  all  these 
things.  I  am  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  only 
hope  is  that  the  Son  of  God  is  to  come  and  destroy 
man's  appetite  for  liquor.  You  cannot  legislate  men 
to  be  good.  We  have  failed,  and  now  it  is  time  for 
us  to  appeal  to  God.  It  will  be  a  very  little  thing  for 
Him  to  do.  He  can  save  the  drunkards  of  Boston  as 
easily  as  I  can  turn  my  own  hand.     I  am  thoroughly 


438  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

convinced  that  if  the  drunkards  of  Boston  will  only 
get  done  leaning  upon  their  own  strength  and  call 
upon  God  to  destroy  the  appetite,  He  will  do  it,  for 
He  was  manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil, 
and  certainly  this  terrible  appetite  is  a  work  of  the 
devil."  He  closed  with  these  ringing  words:  "  Some 
people  tell  us  that  there  is  something  very  noble  in  all 
men,  and  appeal  to  that  noble  thing  in  a  man  and  he 
will  rise  above  it;  but  I  have  got  done  appealing  to- 
that.  I  appeal  to  God  in  heaven;  that  is  where  to 
appeal."  The  responses  of  "Amen,"  all  over  the 
house  showed  how  he  had  touched  a  chord  of  hope. 
On  Friday,  February  9,  the  second  service  was 
held  in  the  Tabernacle.  A  very  large  number  of  re- 
quests for  prayer  were  read,  the  list  of  which  repre- 
sents every  phase  of  misery  caused  by  this  destroyer. 
The  subject  of  Mr.  Moody's  address  was  "  Importu- 
nity in  Prayer."  He  said:  "Let  us  pray,  and  expect 
we  are  eroinff  to  jj:et  what  we  ask  for.  and  not  onlv 
that.  You  would  be  very  much  annoyed  if  some  one 
should  wake  you  up  at  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  not  want  anything.  I  had  a  man  come 
to  my  house  at  that  hour,  and  he  knocked  and  rang 
the  bell,  and  finally  kicked  on  the  door  so  as  to  make 
the  whole  house  tremble.  I  heard  him  then,  and 
lifted  up  the  window  and  inquired:  'Who  is  there?' 
He  told  me  his  name,  and  I  said: 'What  do  you 
want?'  'Oh,' he  said,  '  I  was  just  passing  through 
Chicago  and  thought  I  would  call  and  say  how  do  you 
do.'  [Laughter.]  I  was  very  much  provoked  at  the 
idea  of  jrettintr  out  of  bed  at  that  hour,  to  find  a  man 
who  merely  wanted    to   ask   how    I  was.     Now,  my 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  439 

friends,  we  want  to  go  to  God  and  ask  for  some- 
thing." This  remark  suggests  a  delightful  peculiar- 
ity of  Mr.  Moody's  prayers.  They  go  straight  to  the 
throne.  He  always  asks  for  something.  The  object 
is  clearly  set  in  his  own  mind;  brought  into  living 
colors  by  his  living  sympathies,  his  prayers  real- 
ize the  Scriptural  phrase,  "  Coming  to  God  with  holy 
boldness,"  and  withal  they  are  deeply  humble  and 
reverent. 

At  this  meeting  Mr.  Moody  read  a  letter  from  a 
sister,  who  had  long  been  praying  for  a  drunken 
brother.  She  had  not  seen  his  face  for  eighteen  years- 
During  the  winter  she  had  been  praying  God  would 
lead  him  to  some  of  those  temperance  meetings.  God 
wonderfully  answered  that  prayer.  On  New  Year's 
day  he  wrote  to  that  sister,  that  a  few  w^eeks  before  he 
found  himself  in  the  Chicago  Tabernacle.  There  the 
Lord  met  him,  took  away  his  appetite  for  rum,  and 
since  then  he  has  been  a  free  man.  This  happy  sister 
writes  these  words  as  a  thank-offering  to  God  and  an 
encouragement  to  prayer.  At  this  meeting  a  number 
of  reformed  men  gave  evidence  of  having  been  saved 
and  some  of  them  kept  for  years  by  the  grace  of 
God. 

During  the  first  four  weeks  Mr.  Moody  preached 
a  short  sermon  at  each  Tabernacle  meeting.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time,  the  number  of  converts  and 
witnesses  had  grown  to  be  so  large,  that  he  surren- 
dered most  of  the  hour  to  testimonies  of  what  God  had 
done.  Some  of  these  were  remarkable  enough  to 
stagger  the  strongest  faith.  At  the  meeting,  March 
2nd,  a  gentleman  from  Philadelphia  told  of  his  conver- 


440  TIMES    OF  REFRESHING. 

sion  at  the  Philadelphia  meetings,  after  nineteen  years 
of  drunkenness,  and  that  the  Lord  had  met  him  on  an 
evening,  when  within  three  hours,  he  had  taken  nine 
glasses  of  liquor.  He  testified  solemnly,  he  had  known 
nothing  since  of  his  appetite.  It  had  been  taken  com- 
pletely away. 

At  tins  meeting  fifteen  testified  of  conversion  and 
reformation.  One  said:  "I  came  in  here  drunk  three 
weeks  ago.  low  I  am  saved.  I  never  got  over  a 
drunk  so  quick  in  my  life."  Another  had  been  a  rum- 
seller.  He  had  converted  his  bar-room  to  other  uses, 
and  had  hung  its  walls  with  Scripture  texts.  Another 
had  kept  a  billiard  saloon.  He  had  been  converted 
from  billiards  as  well  as  from  rum.  This  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  meetings  of  the  series,  and  at  its 
close,  on  a  call  for  those  who  wanted  to  be  prayed  for 
to  raise  their  hands,  from  fifty  to  seventy  hands  went 
up.  A  correspondent  says:  "It  seemed,  as  I  saw  them, 
like  so  many  hands  of  drowning  men  thrust  despair- 
ingly up  out  of  the  sea." 

In  order  that  as  many  drunkards  as  possible  might 
be  brought  to  the  Friday  meeting,  and  that  they 
might  be  in  a  state  of  comparative  sobriety,  a  Friday 
morning  breakfast  was  provided  for  them  at  the  Tab- 
ernacle. To  this  breakfast  and  the  meeting  following, 
Mrs.  Stoddard,  a  most  devoted  missionaiw  of  the 
Xorth  end,  had  brought  nearly  a  hundred  in  proces- 
sion on  a  single  day;  boys,  men  of  middle  age,  and 
aged  men,  a  motley  throng  from  the  streets  and  gut- 
ters, brought  often,  for  the  first  time  in  many  years, 
within  the  sound  of  the  gospel.  The  attendance  at 
the  temperance  meetings  steadily  rose.     By  the  first 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  441 

week  in  April  the  Tabernacle  was  full  every  Friday 
noon.  The  attendance  at  the  "  second  meeting,'-  in 
charge  of  Mr.  Sawyer,  increased  from  a  few  hundred 
to  four  thousand.  Indeed,  nearly  the  entire  audience 
remained.  After  this  meeting,  followed  an  inquiry 
meeting  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Sawyer.  There 
the  work  was  almost  wholly  personal.  The  first  effort 
is  to  get  the  inquirer  upon  his  knees,  with  an  open 
Bible  before  him.  He  is  urged  to  read  passage  after 
passage,  to  mark  them  in  his  Bible  and  afterward 
pray  over  them.  Mr.  Sawyer's  method  is  similar  to 
Mr.  Moody's,  pressing  the  inquirer  to  an  immediate 
and  unconditional  surrender  to  Christ. 

On  Friday,  April  20th,  a  New  England  Gospel  Tem- 
perance Convention  was  held  in  the  Tabernacle.  The 
weather  was  stormy  and  unpleasant,  but  the  great 
building  was  packed  from  ten  in  the  morning  until 
ten  at  night,  except  during  two  brief  recesses  taken 
for  dinner  and  supper.  This  was  a  new  feature  in 
Mr.  Moody's  work,  and  was,  all  things  considered, 
probably  the  most  memorable  day  of  three  most  mem- 
orable months.  The  services  were  opened  by  the 
singing  of  a  hymn,  which  has  so  often  aroused  the 
enthusiasm  of  Tabernacle  services, 

"  *Tis  the  promise  of  God  full  salvation  to  give. " 
After  prayer  and  the  singing  of  other  hymns,   Mr. 
Moody  called  upon   the  witnesses.     Man  after  man 
told  the  same  marvelous  story  of  long  bondage,  hope- 
less struggles,  and  salvation  through  Christ. 

Eev.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  D.D.,  of  Brooklyn,  gave  one 
of  his  most  telling  addresses.  Touching  the  problem 
of  problems,  he  asked  and  answered  thus: 


442  TIMES    OF   REFRESHING. 

"  What  must  the  church  do?  Do  what  the  church 
of  Scotland  was  told  to  do  when  they  sent  to  our 
Yankee  brother,  and  asked,  '  What  is  the  best  way  to 
arrest  intemperance  in  Scotland?'  He  gave  them  a 
glance  like  a  shot  from  his  eye,  and  said:  '  Let  the 
ministers  and  Christian  people  put  the  bottle  from 
off  their  own  table!'  That  answer  set  Scotland  to 
shaking.  He  never  said  a  wiser  or  truer  thing  than 
that.  I  would  have  the  church  of  God,  from  the  pul-  • 
pit  clear  down  to  the  pews,  clean  from  complicity  with 
these  drinking  habits.  To  begin  with,  I  will  go  right 
into  the  pulpit.  You  will  never  get  a  church  higher 
than  the  pulpit,  and  if  the  devil  can  smuggle  a  demi- 
john into  the  pulpit,  it  will  be  sure  to  leak  out  into 
the  pews.  I  have  noticed  another  thing,  that  the 
minister  taking  wine  on  social  or  other  occasions, 
tempts  more  young  people  to  ruin — I  don't  care  what 
you  say  about  light  wines  or  inoffensive  beer — than 
all  the  utterances  of  the  pulpit  can  save." 

This  last  sentence  was  received  with  great  applause. 
During  the  day  addresses  were  also  made  by  the  Rev. 
S.  H.  Tyng,  jr.,  and  Hon.  Win.  E.  Dodge,  of  New 
York;  John  Wanamaker  and  Geo.  H.  Stuart,  of 
Philadelphia;  Mr.  Sawyer  and  Miss  Willard. 

Long  before  the  evening  service  crowds  besieged  the 
streets  for  blocks  away.  When  at  length  the  doors 
were  opened,  the  Tabernacle  was  densely  filled  in  a 
few  seconds.  Every  seat  and  every  inch  of  available 
standing  room  were  occupied,  and  hundreds  were 
turned  away  from  the  doors.  The  occasion  that  drew 
that  magnificent  and  expectant  audience,  was  the  ad- 
dress which  was  that  evening  to  be  delivered  by   the 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  443 

h 

great  Apostle  of  Temperance,  Mr.  John  B.  Gough. 
For  more  than  an  hour  he  held  the  great  audience  by 
a  fascination  which  few  orators  know  so  well  to  weave. 
Argument,  anecdote,  illustration,  followed  each  other 
in  brilliant  succession,  and  were  pressed  upon  the  at- 
tention with  the  intense  and  earnest  dramatisin  of 
which  he  is  such  consummate  master.  We  quote  a 
few  of  his  telling  sentences.  "  I  could  no  more  be  a 
moderate  drinker  that  you  could  blow  up  a  powder 
magazine  moderately,  or  fire  off  a  sun  a  little  at  a 
time.  I  have  tried  it  and  failed.  You  say  you  are  a 
weak-minded  man.  Very  well,  have  it  at  that  if  you 
choose.  I  tell  you,  sir,  if  I  am  so  weak-minded  I 
cannot  drink  moderately,  I  thank  God  I  am  strong 
enough  to  let  it  alone  altogether." 

k'A  great  many  men  have  said  to  me,  '  I  can  reform 
without  becoming  a  Christian. '  I  am  not  one  of 
those  who  will  say  to  you,  'You  cannot  quit  drink 
unless  you  become  a  Christian;'  but  I  say  this.  'With- 
in my  experience,  nine  out  of  ten  who  try  it  fail.' 

"  Dickens  has  said  somewhere  in  one  of  his  works, 
'  Mrs.  Todgers  was  a  hard  woman,  yet  in  her  heart, 
away  up  a  great  many  pairs  of  stairs,  in  a  remote  cor- 
ner was  a  door,  and  on  that  door  was  written  woman.' 
So,  on  the  heart  of  the  biggest  drunkard  in  Boston, 
away  up  a  great  many  pair  of  stairs,  in  a  remote  cor- 
ner, easily  passed  by  and  covered  over  with  cobwebs, 
is  a  door;  find  that,  and  that  is  our  business,  and 
knock;  no  response!  What  then?  Knock  on,  per- 
severe; remember,  Christian  men  and  women,  remem- 
ber Him  who  stood  at  the  door  of  your  heart  till  His 
locks  were  wet  with  the  dew,  and  remember  that  this 


444  TIMES   OF  REFRESHING. 

is  a  brother  man,  and  knock  on,  and  by  and  by  the 
quivering  lip  and  the  starting  tear  will  tell  that  you 
have  been  knocking  at  the  heart  of  a  man,  not  the 
heart  of  a  brute." 

Hundreds  of  times  Mr.  Gough  has  spoken  in  Bos- 
ton, but  never  on  a  grander  occasion;  never  did  he 
speak  with  a  sublimer  moral  purpose;  never  with 
more  noble  passion;  and  judging  by  the  response 
from  his  audience — now  of  oppressive  silence  and  now 
of  rounds  of  applause  that  fairly  shook  the  building — 
never  with  better  effect.  Of  this  day,  at  the  minis- 
ter's meeting  on  Monday,  Mr.  Moody  said:  u  It  was 
the  most  glorious  day  of  my  life."  On  Friday,  April 
28th,  the  Tabernacle  was  again  filled.  It  was  the  last 
of  the  temperance  meetings  under  conduct  of  Mr. 
Moody.  The  requests  had  became  too  numerous  to 
read,  and  they  were  grouped  in  classes  thus: 

By  twenty-one  wives  for  intemperate  husbands. 

By  three  fathers  and  thirty-nine  mothers  for  intem- 
perate sons. 

By  two  widows,  each  for  two  intemperate  sons. 

By  one  brother  and  forty-four  sisters  for  intemper- 
ate brothers. 

By  three  daughters  for  intemperate  fathers. 

By  twelve  friends  for  intemperate  friends  and  rela- 
tions. 

For  fifty  drinking  men ;  two  very  aged  and  six  in 
responsible  positions  of  influence. 

For  two  intemperate  professional  men. 

For  five  intemperate  women. 

By  two  aged  grandparents  for  a  granddaughter 
given  to  intemperance  and  other  vices. 


GOSPEL   TEMPERANCE.  445 

For  fifteen  wives  and  families  of  drunkards. 

By  two  drunkards,  for  themselves. 

By  nine  drunkards  trying  to  reform. 

By  seven  rumsellers,  one  on  the  church  roll. 

At  this  meeting  Mr.  Moody  opened  a  question 
drawer  and  answered  a  large  number  of  questions  with 
his  usual  tact  and  sagacity. 

Thus:  u  Ought  a  man  to  pay  his  liquor  bills  after 
he  is  converted?"  "  Kender  unto  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Caesar's.  If  you  want  to  have  any  influence 
with  that  rumseller,  "go  and  pay  up  that  bill.  The 
mistake  is  made.  You  never  ought  to  have  contract- 
ed the  bill;  but  if  you  have  done  it,  pay  your  debt." 

"  What  would  you  do  with  men  that  will  not  work?" 
"  We  heard  from  our  friend  Dr.  Tyng  last  week  that 
we  want  a  good  deal  of  mother  in  this  work;  yes,  and 
we  want  some  father  too.  If  you  are  always  shower- 
ing money  on  these  men,  and  giving  them  clothing 
and  raiment,  they  will  live  in  idleness,  and  not  only 
ruin  themselves,  but  their  children.  It  is  not  charity 
at  all  to  help  them  when  they  will  not  work.  If  a 
man  will  not  work,  let  him  starve.  They  never  die. 
I  never  heard  of  them  really  starving  to  death." 

Afterward,  some  very  impressive  testimonies  were 
o^iven  bv  reformed  men,  who  had  been  drunkards  for 
many  years,  and  now  had  been  saved.  The  last  one 
testified  very  modestly  of  his  conversion,  saying  in 
conclusion,  that,  although  he  could  not  say — as  some 
had  said  on  that  platform — that  his  appetite  had  left 
him,  yet  with  the  help  of  God  he  had  so  far  been  able 
to  resist  temptation,  and  God  continuing  to  help  him, 
he  would  finally  come  off  conqueror. 


446  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

This  closed  Mr.  Moody's  series  of  temperance 
meetings  at  the  Tabernacle. 

It  is  the  evangelist's  aim  so  to  anchor  his  work  in  the 
prayers  and  organized  labor  of  the  churches  as  to  se- 
cure its  permanence.  The  end  of  the  Tabernacle 
services  is  not  therefore  the  end  of  the  revival.  Soon 
after  going  to  Boston,  Mr.  Moody  said:  "We  shall 
see  greater  results  presently.  Christians  are  stopping 
running  around  so  much,  and  are  working  more  on 
their  knees."  It  is  on  this  divine  union  of  labor  and 
prayer  that  he  steadily  insists;  and  before  leaving  the 
temperance  revival  in  Boston,  he  so  enthroned  it  in 
the  faith  of  the  Church,  and  wrought  out  plans  for  its 
permanent  growth,  that  in  quieter  ways  we  may  ex- 
pect to  hear  of  its  triumphs  for  years  to  come. 

Prominent  among:  the  agencies  to  be  relied  on  fur 

CD  O 

carrying  forward  the  work  among  inebriates  and  their 
families  is  the  Woman's  Temperance  Union,  a  more 
particular  account  of  which  is  given  in  the  chapter 
on  Woman's  Work.  In  giving  vitality  to  this  "union" 
and  enlisting  in  the  cause  of  "rescuing  the  perish- 
ing" many  of  the  best  women  in  Boston,  Miss  Wil- 
lard's  daily  meetings  in  the  Park  Street  Church,  in 
Boston,  have  been  greatly  blessed.  Her  labors  have 
been  incessant  and  have  inspired  the  Christian  ladies 
of  the  city  with  a  lasting  purpose  to  consecrate 
their  lives  to  the  Christlike  work  of  raising  those 
who  have  fallen,  and  succoring  those  who  have  no 
friends. 

TAKING  AWAY   THE   APPETITE. 

Before  leaving  this  branch  of  our  subject  it  seems 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  M7 

important  that  we  should  say  a  word  upon  a  phase  of 
this  temperance  revival  upon  which  much  comment 
has  been  made,  and  regarding  which  much  specula- 
tion has  been  indulged.  What  multitudes  of  drunkards 
have  been  converted!  They  have  been  transformed 
from  tipplers,  periodical  drunkards,  habitual  drunkards 
and  continual  sots  into  men  free  from  the  curse, 
which  had  before  enslaved  them.  AVhat  has  become 
of  the  appetite? 

The  appetite  of  strong  drink  when  once  cultivated 
is  somewhat  different  from  the  domination  of  other 
sins.  It  is  not  only  a  passion  of  the  mind,  but  a 
physical  infirmity,  often  amounting  to  positive  dis- 
ease. It  enters  the  blood  and  inflames  it;  it  sends  its 
poison  along  the  nerves  and  shatters  them;  it  mounts 
to  the  brain  and  fills  it  with  lire  and  changes  its  very 
texture.  When  the  man  has  been  regenerated  by  the 
{Spirit  of  God,  has  a  new  mind  and  heart,  is  in  both 
these  parts  of  his  nature  a  new  creature  in  Christ 
Jesus,  what  effect  has  this  conversion  on  the  blood, 
the  nerves  and  the  brain?  Is  his  physical  nature  so 
effected  that  it  no  longer  makes  that  fiery  demand 
which  is  the  drunkard's  uncontrollable  appetite?  Or 
is  the  spiritual  mastery  given  to  the  man  so  absolute 
and  commanding  that  in  its  supremacy  he  is  forget- 
ful of  the  physical  passion,  which  neglected,  naturally 
dies?  Is  it  the  heart's  new  passion  reigning,  to  the 
death  of  the  old  passion  of  body,  mind  and  soul  at 
once?  Or,  yet  again,  is  it  a  prolonged  battle,  the  ap- 
petite sometimes  slumbering,  sometimes  aroused  and 
terrible,  which  a  manhood,  enforced  by  the  grace  of 
God,  holds  in  check, 


448  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

answers  of  these  questions  in  the  experience  of  the 
young  converts  are  various,  and  furnish  matter  for 
most  serious  reflection. 

I.  We  have  heard  witness  after  witness  most  solemn- 
ly affirm  that,  so  far  as  they  knew,  their  appetite  was 
destroyed,  thoroughly,  radically,  and  at  once.  These 
witnesses  have  been  from  all  classes  of  society,  ignor- 
ant and  cultured,  young  and  old.  One,  a  man  of  in- 
telligence and  judgment  and  undoubted  veracity,  said 
to  us:  "The  Lord  has  destroyed  my  appetite,  and  I 
have  no  more  desire  to  drink  liquor  than  I  have  to 
eat  glass."  This  was  from  a  man  who,  for  a  decade 
of  years,  was  a  perfect  slave  to  his  appetite.  Another 
said:  "For  years  I  have  not  been  able  to  pass  a  saloon 
without  a  powerful  temptation  to  enter,  to  which  I 
usually  yielded.  I  can  now  pass  saloons  all  day  and 
can  enter  them  without  the  remotest  desire  to  drink." 
Many  others  have  testified  thus:  "We  had  tried 
everything  under  the  sun,  which  promised  to  cure 
our  appetites,  pledges,  lodges,  medicine,  inebriate 
asylums.  The  lire  raged  on,  and  at  every  opportuni- 
ty we  fell  again.  At  last,  consciously  unable  to  save 
ourselves,  sure  also  that  there  was  no  power  on  earth 
that  could  save  us,  we  fell  into  the  arms  of  God,  who 
broke  our  chains,  took  away  our  appetite,  root  and 
branch,  and  now  we  are  free  men."  A  pastor  in  Chi- 
cago, on  being  asked  if  he  was  preaching  that  the  ap- 
petite for  liquor  was  taken  away  in  answer  to  prayer, 
replied,  giving  the  cases  of  twelve  reformed  men  ot 
his  congregation,  who  declared  that  in  their  conver- 
sion the  appetite  for  liquor  was  wholly  removed;  also 
that  of  a  deacon  in  his  church,  who  had  an  inveterate 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  449 

habit  of  chewing  tobacco.  The  good  man  felt  that 
the  habit  was  harmful;  but  he  had  tried  again  and 
again  to  give  it  up,  without  success.  "Let  us  pray 
over  it,"  said  the  pastor,  one  day.  They  knelt.  The 
next  day,  as  they  met,  the  deacon,  with  delight,  said: 
"  The  work  is  done.  My  desire  for  tobacco  is  all 
gone."  We  also  give  in  the  same  direction  the  follow- 
ing short  colloquy  between  Mr.  Moody  and  a  gentle- 
man from  Portland,  Maine,  whose  passion  for  liquor 
was  so  strong,  that  he  once  even  sold  his  shirt  off  his 
back  to  a  Jew  to  get  a  drink.  He  was  converted,  and 
as  he  said,  "  the  devil  left  him." 

Mr.  Moody — How  long  since  your  appetite  left 
you? 

Mr.  i\T. — Six  years. 

Mr.  Moody — And  it  has  never  come  back? 

jjfTt  jy# — Nothing  of  the  sort  has  come  to  me  since. 

Mr.  Moody — Did  you  have  a  bad  appetite? 

Mr.  N—  A  fearful  appetite.  I  could  not  go  by 
a  saloon  without  going  in  and  taking  a  glass  of 
beer.  I  could  not  say  two  words  without  blasphem- 
ing Christ.  I  used  to  get  down  on  my  knees  and 
blaspheme  the  Almighty  to  his  face.  I  was  a  great 
sinner.     But  now  it's  all  gone  and  I'm  a  new  man. 

Mr.  Moody— -Yes;  thank  God. 

This  testimony  is  of  a  kind,  and  is  given  under  cir- 
cumstances that  would  be  credited  in  any  court  of 
evidence  upon  earth,  and  the  conclusion  from  it  would 
seem  to  be  this,  either  the  appetite  has  been  destroy- 
ed, or  those  who  have  been  the  subjects  of  it  have  been 
deceived.  Whether  these  witnesses  may  be  deceived 
as.  to  this  fact,  under  the  other  theory,  that  the  ap- 


450  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

petite  is  held  in  check  by  a  new  affection  and  a  new 
life,  and  is  kept  a  prisoner  under  their  guard  to  the 
end  of  life,  or  gradually  dies,  we  leave  others  to  de- 
termine. 

II.  Others  declare  that  the  appetite  remains,  the 
thorn  in  their  flesh,  to  carry  which  and  to  resist  which 
is  the  cross  of  their  Christian  life.  It  is  to  them  a 
continual  argument  for  humility,  watchfulness  and 
prayer.     Upon  this  point  Mr.  Gough  says: 

"  I  am  not  one  of  those  that  would  speak  slightingly 
of  tho  wonderful,  illimitable,  infinite  power  of  the  grace 
of  G«»d,  but  while  one  man  may  have  that  appetite 
taken  away  from  him  by  God's  grace  and  Spirit,  there 
is  another  man  who  may  have  that  appetite  left  in 
him  to  try  him.  When  Paul  prayed  that  the  thorn 
might  be  removed  out  of  his  flesh,  his  prayer  was 
only  answered  by  'My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee.' 

"Men  may  say  to  me:  '  Have  you  this  appetite?'  I 
don't  know,  and  there  is  only  one  way  in  which  I  can 
test  it,  and  my  daily  prayer  is:  'God  help  me  to 
avoid  the  test.'  I  can  only  know  whether  I  have  it 
by  testing  it,  so  I  shall  die  in  blissful  ignorance  of 
that  fact.  But  although  it  is  thirty-five  years  since 
I  signed  the  pledge,  I  will  not  put  to  my  lips  intoxi- 
cating wine  at  the  communion  table.  I  have  not  and 
I  never  will." 

He  also  relates  the  case  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel, 
who  wrote  to  hi  in   thus: 

"  'My  grandfather  died  of  delirium  tremens,  my 
mother  died  a  drunkard;  I  have  inherited  an  appetite 
for  liquor.  When  I  went  into  the  ministry  1  sought 
the  hardest  work  1   could  get  and  went  as  a  Home 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  45  I 

Missionary;  I  am  now  broken  down;  I  have  covered 
my  whole  life  with  prayer  as  with  a  garment;  I  have 
spent  hundreds  of  dollars  at  water-cure  establishments 
to  wash  this  devil  out  of  me;  I  have  gone  without 
animal  food  for  two  years,  yet  I  tremble  every  day  on 
the  verge  of  the  precipice  of  indulgence.'  " 

At  the  great  Gospel  Temperance  Meeting  in  Bos- 
ton, Mr.  Gough  said:  "A  good  Christian  man  said  to 
me  only  to-day:  "  'Three  weeks  ago  I  had  the  most  aw- 
ful struggle  against  my  appetite,'  and  a  gentleman 
said  to  me,  holding  me  by  the  hand,  the  other  night: 
'  God  bless  you,  Mr.  Gough,  I  am  fighting  an  awful 
hard  battle.'  I  said:  '  Do  you  feel  secure?'  '  Secure  in 
Jesus,  Mr.  Gough.'  Oh,  1  tell  you,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, that  is  the  strength  of  the   movement    to-day. " 

III.  There  are  those  who  are  not  conscious  of  any 
appetite,  and  who  do  not  care  to  say  the}7  know  it  is 
destroyed.  They  are  content  with  the  declaration 
that  it  does  not  trouble  them  now,  and  they  hope,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  it  never  will.  A  gentleman,  who 
was  converted  in  Chicago,  after  dragging  through 
twenty  years  of  wretched  drunkenness,  said  concerning 
his  appetite:  "  Thank  God,  I  believe  it  is  buried  so 
deep  the  devil  will  never  find  it  again."  This  is  also 
Mr.  Sawyer's  position.  At  the  third  temperance 
meeting  in  Boston,  after  Mr.  Sawyer  had  related  hi3 
experience,  Mr.  Moody  said: 

"  Has  your  appetite  come  back?  " 

"  It  has  not." 

"  Has  God  entirely  destroyed  your  appetite,  so  that 
it  never  troubles  you  ?" 

To  which  Mr,  Sawyer  very  wisely  replied:  "  I  would 


•±52  TIMES  OF  REFRESH  ING. 

not  like  to  say  God  takes  away  the  appetite,  but  he 
covers  it  up  so  that  we  don't  know  where  it  is  if  we 
live  near  Rim.  When  we  don't  live  near  Him,  Satan 
finds  it  and  plays  on  it." 

This  seems  to  us  the  safer  position.  They  who 
hold  it  will  watch  unto  prayer,  and  walk  softly  with 
God. 

THE  PLEDGE  REVIVAL. 

The  Murphy  movement,  as  this  branch  of  the  tem- 
perance revival  is  called,  does  not  differ  much  from 
that  we  have  already  described,  except  in  the  promin- 
ence it  gives  to  the  pledge.  Its  fundamental  idea  is 
divine  help,  although  it  does  not  insist  upon  conver- 
sion as  the  beginning  of  reformation.  Francis 
Murphy,  by  whom  this  work  was  originated,  and  is 
being  carried  on  with  a  success  which  is  simply 
amazing,  was  born  about  forty  years  ago,  of  Roman 
Catholic  parents  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Ireland. 
When  about  sixteen  years  of  age  he  came  to  this 
country,  and  after  a  wandering  life  of  several  years 
settled  at  Portland,  Maine,  where  he  opened  a  saloon. 
His  course  from  that  point  was  rapidly  downward. 
A  vagabond  on  the  streets,  he  was  committed  to  jail 
as  a  public  nuisance.  Capt.  Cyrus  Sturtevant  was 
the  instrument  of  his  conversion.  This  noble  Chris- 
tian man  was  holding  services  in  the  prison.  After 
his  address  to  the  prisoners,  he  asked  Mr.  Murphy  if 
he  would  not  like  to  be  sober  and  respectable,  as  he 
had  once  been?  He  answered:  "Hardly  a  hope  re- 
mains for  me.  I  have  lost  everything."  Capt. 
Sturtevant  took  him  kindly  by    the   hand   and    said: 


GOSPEL   TEMPERANCE.  463 

"There  is  hope  for  you,  and  if  you  will  only  make  an 
effort  to  save  yourself,  we  will  help  you  and  God  will 
help  you."  Mr.  Murphy  waited  for  the  next  Sab- 
bath day  with  the  vague  thought  that  through  its 
light  some  hope  might  dawn  upon  him.  Among  the 
people,  who  pressed  in  to  the  service  he  noticed  his 
wife  and  children.  We  give  what  followed  in  his 
own  words: 

"  My  oldest  daughter,  Mary,  was  with  her  mother. 
She  had  a  beautiful  little  bouquet  in  her  hand;  she 
thought  she  would  bring  something  to  father,  and 
she  darted  away  from  mother  and  walked  along  up 
the  corridor.  She  tried  to  speak  to  me,  but  it  was 
utterly  impossible  for  her  to  do  so.  She  took  her 
seat  by  my  side,  and  folding  her  hands  about  my 
neck,  said:  '  Papa,  we  have  been  so  lonely  for  you.' 
I  said:  'Daughter,  I  have  been  lonesome  for  you, 
and,  God  helping  me,  I  shall  make  an  effort  to  be- 
come a  sober  man.'  The  worship  of  God  commenced 
that  day  in  the  dark  jail.  I  had  made  a  great  many 
resolutions  in  my  own  mind  that  I  would  stop  drink- 
ing, but  resolutions  were  not  sufficient,  and  my  dear 
friend  Sturtevant  came  to  my  side,  and  putting  his 
arm  over  my  shoulder,  said:  'Murphy,  give  your 
heart  to  Christ  and  all  will  be  well  with  you.'  I  said 
to  him :  '  I  want  to  receive  strength  to  be  saved  from 
this  terrible  evil,'  and  with  wife,  children  and  God'a 
people,  I  knelt  down  on  the  cold,  granite  floor,  sup- 
plicated God's  throne  for  mercy  and  strength,  and  I 
thank  God,  I  can  say  to  you,  to-night,  my  dear  friends, 
'  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  because  He 
lives  I  shall  live  also.'  " 


454  TIMES  OF  BEFBESHIKG-. 

The  surrender  was  complete  and  Francis  Murphy 
was  thenceforth  a  new  man. 

He  was  now,  however,  to  be  fitted  for  his  work  by 
the  ministry  of  a  heavy  sorrow.  Shortly  after  his  re- 
lease, his  wife,  enfeebled  by  the  sufferings  she  had 
endured  during  the  years  of  his  drunkenness,  died. 
Overwhelmed  with  remorse,  he  resolved  upon  the  only 
atonement  he  could  make.  He  determined  to  give 
his  life  to  rescue  other  families  from  degradation  and 
misery.  In  1874  he  went  to  the  West  by  the  invita- 
tion of  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  to  labor  there  in  the 
cause  of  temperance.  He  visited  many  towns  in  Ill- 
inois and  Iowa,  holding  public  meetings,  securing 
signatures  to  pledges,  raising  money  to  open  reading- 
rooms  and  temperance  houses,  and  by  address,  prayer 
and  personal  conversations,  always  pointing  the  in- 
ebriate to  Christ  as  his  only  certain  refuge.  His  suc- 
cess, even  at  this  early  beginning  of  his  work,  was  re- 
markable. 

In  the  winter  of '76  and '77  he  was  invited  to  the 
city  of  Pittsburgh.  He  began  his  work  there  in 
January,  1877.  From  the  very  first  meeting  it  was 
wonderfully  blest,  in  a  few  weeks  half  a  dozen  of 
the  most  capacious  churches  were  thronged  night 
after  night.  Temperance  enthusiasm  swept  like  a 
whirlwind  through  the  city  and  neighboring  towns. 
Men  of  prominence,  many  of  them  just  converted,  came 
to  Mr.  Murphy's  assistance.  Night  after  night,  ami 
week  after  week  this  noble  band  of  men  preached  the 
gospel  of  reform  in  halls,  churches,  factories,  work- 
shops and  by  the  wayside. 

The  exercises  at  the  public  meetings  consisted  of 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  455 

singing  and  prayer,  a  brief  address  by  Mr.  Murphy, 
testimonies  from  converted  men,  and  the  signing  of 
the  pledge,  followed  by  an  inquiry  meeting,  in  which 
Mr.  Murphy  and  his  associates  went  from  man  to 
man,  praying  that  they  might  be  delivered  from  their 
bondage. 

In  a  few  weeks  all  Western  Pennsylvania  was  ablaze 
with  enthusiasm.  From  sixty  to  seventy  thousand  in 
Pittsburgh  and  Alleghany  signed  the  pledge.  It  ex- 
tended up  and  down  the  river,  and  into  the  moun- 
tains, till  the  number  of  those  who  had  pledged 
each  other  to  live  a  temperate  life,  had  amounted  to 
hundreds  of  thousands.  In  the  spring  it  entered 
Ohio,  and  under  the  guidance  of  Messrs.  McMasters, 
Wenzell  and  Hall,  and  later  under  the  personal  su- 
perintendence of  Mr.  Murphy,  has  made  sweeping 
progress.  Columbus  has  been  severely  agitated,  and 
thousands  have  signed  the  pledge.  At  Newark,  Crest- 
line and  other  cities,  saloon  keepers  have  closed  their 
shops  and  joined  the  ranks  of  the  reformers.  In  June, 
Mr.  Murphy  began  services  in  Cincinnati. 

In  New  York,  thousands  have  signed  the  pledge  in 
Elmyra,  Corning,  Bath,  Great  Bend,  Penn  Yan,  and 
other  places,  and  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  liquor 
have  been  destroyed.  Spreading  Eastward  from 
Pittsburgh,  this  tidal  wave  took  scores  of  towns  in 
Central  and  Northern  Pennsylvania  in  its  way,  and 
reached  Philadelphia  in  May.  There,  under  the  per- 
sonal leadership  of  Mr.  Murphy,  the  enthusiasm  was 
as  great  as  elsewhere,  and  nearly  sixty-five  thousand 
enrolled  their  names  on  the  total  abstinence  pledge. 

Mr.  Murphy's  meeting  with  the  liquor-sellers  was 


456  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

a  very  remarkable  one,  and  the  secret  of  his  influence 
over  them  may  readily  be  gathered  from  the  follow- 
ing report  of  that  meeting: 

A  few  days  since  Mr.  Murphy  issued  a  public  invi- 
tation to  the  liquor-sellers  of  Philadelphia  to  meet 
him  in  public  assembly  on  Sabbath  evening,  the  3d 
inst.  He  had  himself  been  a  liquor-seller,  as  he  ac- 
knowledged with  sorrow  and  shame,  and  so  he  ad- 
dressed his  invitation  to  them  as  his  "  Dear  Friends 
and  Brothers,"  and  said,  "  Come,  and  let  us  reason  to- 
gether." Tickets  for  seats  in  the  body  of  the  house 
were  issued  only  to  liquor-sellers.  On  the  opening 
of  the  house,  and  in  just  as  short  space  as  would  allow 
for  the  giving  up  of  tickets,  that  part  of  the  building 
was  filled.  Mr.  George  H.  Stuart,  who  was  with  Mr. 
Murphy,  must  have  put  his  strange  audience  into 
frame  for  attention,  when  he  told  them  that  under 
the  present  effort  in  this  city  alone  more  than  fifty 
thousand  signatures  had  been  given  to  the  pledge  of 
total  abstinence,  after  the  form  now  in  use,  and  that 
seventeen  temperance  services  were  then  being  held 
in  Philadelphia.  Among  the  things  said  by  Mr. 
Murphy,  as  taken  down  by  the  reporters,  were  these: 

"  Long  and  earnestly  have  I  prayed  for  the  privilege 
of  speaking  to  the  liquor-sellers.  I  believe  in  my 
heart  there  are  as  kind  and  true  men  in  the  liquor 
traffic,  as  there  are  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  I  know 
if  the  poor  call  upon  them  for  aid,  they  are  not  turned 
away  empty.  I  know  that  if  the  country  needed  de- 
fenders, the  liquor-dealers  would  not  be  called  on  in 
vain.  I  know  that  we  are  all  men  and  brothers,  and 
that  God  loves  us  all.      Unfortunately,   many  of  us 


GOSPEL    TEMPEEANCE.  457 

drift  into  the  iiquor  business  unconsciously;  and 
when  I  preach  to  you  of  temperance,  you  shake  your 
heads,  and  say:  '  What  is  the  use  of  talking  about  it? 
I  have  my  family  to  support,  and  cannot  get  out  of 
it.'  Now,  my  brother,  I  don't  blame  you  for  talking 
that  way;  for  I  have  said  the  same  thing  myself." 

He  told  them,  also,  the  story  of  his  own  life,  and 
how  he  had  been  begged  by  his  wife  not  to  sell  liquor; 
and  a  thrill  in  the  audience  was  manifest  as  the  in- 
quiry broke  upon  it,  "  Brother,  how  many  of  your 
wives  oppose  you  in  the  business?  You  need  not  an- 
swer; I  know  all  about  the  business,  and  you  know  as 
well  as  I  do." 

The  scene  had  its  effect.  Several  dealers  came  for- 
ward, and  placed  their  names  in  his  book;  and  if  all 
accounts  of  the  influence  of  the  meeting  are  correct, 
this  new  phase  of  effort  opens  another  door  of  help. 

In  Michigan  the  Red  Ribbon  and  Blue  Ribbon 
movement  has  swept  like  a  resistless  tide  from  one 
end  of  the  state  to  the  other.  Dr.  Henry  A.  Reynolds 
is  the  guiding  spirit  of  the  work.  lie  also  is  a  re- 
formed man.  Speaking  of  his  experience  at  the  In- 
ternational Temperance  Conference,  he  said:  "  I  am 
one  of  those  unfortunate  men  who  have  an  inherited 
appetite  for  strong  drink.  I  love  liquor  to-night  as 
well  as  an  infant  loves  milk.  The  time  1  left  off  drink- 
ing I  had  an  experience  for  twenty  years.  I  have 
suffered  from  delirium  tremens  as  the  result  of  drink- 
ing intoxicants.  I  have  walked  my  father's  house 
seven  nights  and  days,  a  raving  mad-man.  I  was 
obliged  to  do  something  different  from  what  I  had 
ever  done  before,  in  order  to  rid  myself  of  this  infer- 


458  TIMEP  OF  REFRESHING, 

nal  appetite.  I  knew  but  very  little  about  the  Bible. 
Drinking  men  do  not  read  the  Bible  much,  but  I 
knew  God  had  promised  to  assist  those  who  asked  in 
faith,  believing,  and  I  threw  myself  upon  my  knees 
in  my  office  and  asked  Almighty  God  to  save  me, 
and  promised  Him  that  if  He  would  save  me,  I  would 
be  true  to  myself  and  to  Him,  and  do  what  I  could  to 
make  others  happy.  Now  1  am  one  of  the  happiest 
men  in  the  world." 

Dr.  Reynolds'  methods  are  substantially  the  same 
as  those  of  Mr.  Murphy.  Short  addresses,  spirited 
singing,  prayer  and  pledge  signing  are  the  spirit  of 
the  public  meetings.  Hence,  in  this  work  as  in  Mr. 
Murphy's,  great  stress  is  laid  upon  personal  influence 
and  Christian  encouragement.  Dr.  Reynolds  says: 
"Hundreds  and  hundreds  are  full-souled  Christians. 
They  haven't  been  saved  by  cuffs  and  cold  shoulders, 
but  by  the  hand  of  brotherly  love  and  sympathy,  and 
if  there  is  a  man  in  God's  world  who  is  worthy  to  ac- 
cept the  hand  of  sympathy,  brotherly  love  and  friend- 
ship, it  is  the  poor  unfortunate  drunkard.  These  men 
must  be  saved  by  practical  Christian  work,  by  treat- 
ing them  as  men." 

This  sentence,  in  our  judgment,  contains  the  secret 
of  the  success  of  these,  reformed  men.  They  are  men 
of  prayer  and  Christlike  love  for  the  fallen.  A  cor- 
respondent of  one  of  the  religious  papers  gives  the 
following  estimate  of  results: 

"But  what  does  tin's  show  as  to  actual  reform?  Of 
course,  we  have  no  statistics  to  show  the  actual  char- 
acter of  the  men,  on  signing  the  pledge;  but  from  the 
most  careful  estimate  \  can  make  I  believe  the  follow- 


GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE.  459 

ing  will  not  be  very  far  out  of  the  way:  Teetotalers 
(who  were  admitted  rather  against  Dr.  Reynolds's 
rule)  5,000;  those  w7ho  drank  nothing  stronger  than 
cider,  5,000;  'moderate  drinkers,'  30,000;  and  then 
comes  the  sad,  but  glorious  sight  of  20,000  positive 
drunkards  redeemed,  as  Dr.  Reynolds's  crowning 
glory. 

4 'The  general  interest  in  the  cause  has  not  abated, 
and  there  will  soon  be  a  club  in  nearly  every  town- 
ship in  the  state.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Unions  have  been  revived,  and  are  giving  their 
important  aid  to  the  men  who  have  declared  their  in- 
dependence. 

"  The  history  of  many  of  these  saved  men  would  read 
like  wild  romance;  men  who  have  drunk  themselves 
crazy  and  been  in  the  insane  asylum,  men  who  have 
squandered  a  fortune  and  been  divorced  from  their 
wives,  men  wiio  were  so  far  gone  that  their  doom  was 
considered  as  certain  as  if  the  grave  had  closed  over 
them,  men  who  could  no  longer  be  called  men,  and 
thousands  of  young  men,  just  starting  on  the  down 
grade, — saved,  saved!  saved!  As  though  from  the 
brink  of  Niagara,  just  as  the  victim  is  making  the 
fatal  plunge,  a  balloon  comes  down,  takes  up  the  lost 
man.  and  bears  him  safely  to  land!" 

And  the  enterprising  editor  of  the  Lansing  Republi- 
can recently  sent  out  several  hundred  circulars  asking 
for  statistics.  He  has  received  answers  from  203  clubs 
(but  by  no  means  all),  which  report  the  aggregate 
number  of  58,268  members.  The  following  are  must 
of  the  places  reporting  over  one  thousand  members: 
Bay  City,  2,550;  Detroit,  3,700;  Flint,  1,978;  Grand 


460  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING 

Rapids,  2,168;  Jackson,  1,104;  Lansing,  1,227;  Mus- 
kegon, 1,087;  Port  Huron,  1,707;  East  Saginaw,  oyer 
2,000;  while  thirty-two  other  towns  report  over  four 
hundred  each. 

The  following  joint  resolution,  adopted  by  the  leg- 
islature of  Michican,  indicates  the  estimate  the  prom- 
inent politicians  of  that  state  have  of  Dr.  Reynolds's 
movement: 

"Resolved  (the  Senate  concurring),  That  in  the  re^ 
cent  work  introduced  into  this  state,  by  Dr.  Henry 
A.  Reynolds,  we  recognize  a  reform  so  beneiicent  in 
its  aims,  and  so  wise  in  its  measures,  as  to  have  won 
public  confidence  in  an  unprecedented  degree,  not 
only  achieving  marvelous  results  in  its  effects  upon 
individuals,  families  and  communities,  but  promising 
to  be  so  far-reaching  in  its  influence  as  of  necessity 
to  greatly  diminish  poverty  and  crime,  the  expenses 
of  alms-houses,  police  courts  and  prisons,  as  well  as 
the  demands  upon  private  and  public  charity;  and 
promising  also  to  solve  the  much-vexed  problem  of 
tramps,  vagrants,  paupers,  and  convicts — striking  as 
it  does  at  the  root  of  pauperism  and  crime. 

"Resolved,  That  to  Dr.  Henry  A.  Reynolds,  the 
originator  and  prosecutor  of  this  reform  as  developed 
in  this  state,  we  tender  grateful  appreciation  and 
thanks. 

"Chas.  M.  Croswell,  Governor. 
"Alonzo  Sessions,  Pres.  of  Senate. 
"John  T.  Rich,  Speaker  of  the  House." 

Was  ever  such  a  paper  adopted  before  by  any  State 
Legislature? 

The  question  so  often  asked  of  the  permanency  of 


G0SFEL    TEMPERANCE.  461 

these  reformations  is  one  which  time  alone  can  an- 
swer, and  to  which  time  is  giving  an  answer  of  daily 
increasing  emphasis. 

John  Lang,  the  railroad  man  of  Pittsburgh,  says 
that  out  of  5,000  of  his  employes,  who  have  taken  the 
obligation,  but  three  have  thus  far  fallen.  It  were 
folly  to  hope  that  none  would  fall.  It  is  to  the  praise 
of  divine  grace  that  any  remain  firm. 

In  the  light  of  this  double  temperance  movement 
under    Moody   and    Sawyer    on   the  one    hand,   and 
Murphy  and  Reynolds  on  the  other,  the   real    philos- 
ophy of  the  wonderful  success  is  not  obscure.     Christ 
and  humanity  are  the  two  words  of  the  banner.     Mr. 
Moody  lays  the  chief  emphasis  on  the  power  of  the 
gospel  to  break    the  chains.     Mr.    Murphy,    holding 
also  to  this,  represents  prominently  the  idea  of  broth- 
erhood.     Pity   for    the   drunkard,    sympathy  in  his 
sorrows,  the  hand  of  help  stretched  out  to  him,  these 
are  the  agencies  that  move  him.     A    recent     writer, 
apprehending  well  this  principle  of  the  reform,  says: 
"  The  drunkard  has  been  encouraged  to  believe  in 
the  possibility  of  reformation.     He  has  been  assured, 
with  all   confidence   and    in  the  tenderest  sympathy, 
of  the  grace  of  God  vouchsafed  to  assist  him.     Thus 
the  smouldering  embers  of  his  better  nature  have  been 
stirred  into  life.     He   has   felt  himself  honored  and 
challenged  by  this  appeal  to  his  manhood;  and,  en- 
couraged by  the  assurance  of  sympathy  and  hope,  he 
has  recorded  his  new  and  noble  resolution,  and  enter- 
ed, by  God's  grace,  on  a  new  life.     In  a  similar  spirit 
the  liquor  seller  has  been  approached.     He  has  been 
treated  with  charity,  but  he  has  felt  honored  by  the 


462  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

bold  challenge  to  be  true  to  his  own  convictions,  and 
in  many  instances,  thrown  thus  upon  his  own  con- 
science, has  abandoned  a  business  which  he  found 
himself  unable  to  approve.  Indeed  the  spirit  of  the 
whole  movement  has  been  'Come  now  let  us  reason 
together  ' — not  to  prove  that  you  are  a  villain,  a 
brute,  a  criminal,  and  that  the  best  way  to  deal  with 
you  is  to  tight  you,  punish  you,  chain  and  imprison 
you,  but  to  show  you  that  whatever  your  sins  deserve, 
there  is  the  possibility  of  pardon,  of  a  new,  better  and 
pure  life.  Thus  have  the  drinking  classes  and  liquor 
dealers  been  thrown  into  a  position  where  truth  en- 
forces itself  upon  their  judgment  and  conscience/' 

If  there  is  a  sign  of  the  times  that  shines  upon  the 
world  with  noon-day  clearness,  it  is  this:  That  our 
country  is  upon  the  eve  of  a  temperance  crusade,  which 
in  breadth  and  depth  has  never  been  equaled  before. 
The  characteristic  of  it  is  not  law,  but  love,  not  legis- 
lation, but  prayer  and  persuasion.  It  aims  not  only 
to  prevent  the  formation  and  spread  of  an  evil  habit, 
but  daringly  it  attacks  the  demon  in  his  very  strong- 
hold, and  sets  those  free,  whom  he  had  long  held  in 
fetters  stronger  than  brass. 

This  great  lesson  of  recovery  and  restoration  tor  a 
class  hitherto  regarded  as  well-nigh  beyond  any  hope 
of  redemption,  should  not  be  lost  upon  society  and 
upon  the  Church.  The  practical  demonstration,  given 
in  so  many  remarkable  examples,  that  the  grace  of 
( i  od  can  save  even  to  the  uttermost,  that  there  is 
power  in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  commended  by  human 
sympathy,  to  reach  and  to  rescue  the  most  desperate 
case  of  drunkenness,  is  one  which  ought  to  commend 


GOSPEL    TEMPEKANCE.  463 

itself  to  every  philanthropist,  and  especially  to  every 
Christian  pastor  and  evangelist.  How  have  these 
men  been  saved  ?  Simply  through  the  Cross  of 
Christ.  But  how  have  they  been  brought  to  feel  the 
saving  power  of  the  Cross?  Simply  by  earnest,  effect- 
ual, importunate,  believing  prayer,  followed  up,  from 
day  to  day,  by  direct,  personal,  loving  appeals  and 
unceasing  efforts,  on  the  part  of  Christians,  to  save 
these  lost  men. 

Can  the  Church  ever  again  lose  sight  of  the  only 
efficient  remedy,  or  forget  that  Christ  can  save  to  the 
uttermost  of  human  need,  and  beyond  the  uttermost  of 
human  faith? 


CHAPTEK   XIX. 

REVIEW   AND  PROSPECT. 

We  have  concluded  our  sketches  of  the  revival 
work  of  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  of  our  national 
life.  It  remains  only  to  consider  the  characteristics 
of  each  period,  and  to  compare  one  with  another,  in 
the  hope  some  lessons  of  faith  in  and  hope  for  the 
grand  revival  times  upon  which  we  are  entering, 
may  thereby  be  suggested. 

Every  revival  is  both  supernatural  and  natural.  It 
is  supernatural  in  the  efficient  cause  of  it,  which  is 
always  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  natural  in  certain 
necessary  relations  to  human  instrumentality.  Both 
these  factors  vary  in  different  periods  of  Church  his- 
tory. The  varying  degrees  in  which  they  combine  to 
the  one  result  which  we  call  a  revival  of  religion,  de- 
termine the  character  of  the  work,  and  the  consideration 
of  those  variations — their  mutual  relations,  and  their 
bearings  on  the  progress  of  religion,  constitute  the  phil- 
osophy of  revivals.  It  is  therefore  hardly  necessary  to 
say,  in  claiming  that  there  are  certain  laws  by  which  re- 
vivals move,  and  therefore  a  philosophy  discernible  in 
their  movements,  so  tar  from  any  attempt  being  made  to 
rlis  ■  iiv'13  eloments,  only  in  such  a  view  do 
•  .  \  .-,  ■  r  »  i  ir  ti;u3$t  value  and  importance.  Nature 
brought  under  the  domain  of  law  is  not  thereby  taken 

464 


REVIEW   AND    PROSPECT.  465 

out  of  the  hands  of  God.  Only  a  superficial  philoso- 
phy would  so  conclude.  On  the  contrary  God  is 
never  so  near  and  never  so  operative  in  the  works  of 
creation  and  providence,  as  when  the  facts  have  fallen 
into  the  melody  of  severe  and  comprehensive  law.  So 
the  philosophy  of  revivals,  which  is  only  comparing  and 
classifying  their  facts,  so  far  from  abating  from  the 
sovereignty,  necessity  and  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
does  only  give  to  the  Spirit's  work  its  finest  action, 
in  the  flexibility,  subtlety,  method  and  force  with 
which  it  is  twined  in  with  the  labors  of  the  Church. 
It  is  still,  and  more  manifestly  and  wondrously,  God 
above  all,  through  all  and  in  all, — above  all  in  an  in- 
dependent sovereignty,  through  all  in  a  divine  wis- 
dom to  adapt  to  his  purpose  the  facts  and  opportuni- 
ties of  history,  in  all  by  the  power  of  that  spiritual  in- 
dwelling which  not  only  regenerates  individuals,  but 
new-creates  social  and  national  conditions — until  they 
become  pliant  instruments  for  spreading  the  kingdom 
of  God  among  men.  In  this  view  of  the  relations  of 
the  human  and  divine  let  us  note  the  varying  elements 
and  the  unity  of  life  which  at  once  distinguish  and 
unite  the  several  revival  periods  of  our  history. 

I.  Let  us  first  compare  the  earlier  with  the  later  re- 
vivals in  the  ends  that  are  sought.  In  the  introduc- 
tory chapter  of  this  book  one  end  of  a  revival  was  de- 
fined to  be  the  conversion  and  reformation  of  sinners. 
Wherever  there  has  been  a  revival  that  has  been  one 
of  its  leading  ideas.  The  preaching  of  the  leaders  of 
the  revival  of  1740,  was  indeed  directed  largely  to 
the  Church,  but  it  was  under  the  conviction,  (a  con- 
viction in  its  sharp  severity  sometimes  uncharitable) 


466  TIMES    OF  REFRESHING. 

that  the  Church,  and  even  the  ministry,  needed  con- 
verting,  and  that  such  a  work  must  precede  any  good 
wrought  in  the  gathering  in  of  non-professors.  All 
who  accept  the  testimony  of  the  Bible  as  to  the  condi- 
tion of  man  and  the  fact  of  redemption  through  Christ, 
stand  on  a  platform  of  religious  work,  from  which  con- 
version of  souls  from  sin  to  God  is  the  first  objective 
point.  Therefore,  from  whatever  age  of  the  world,  from 
the  midst  of  whatever  intellectual  or  moral  surround- 
ings, Christian  men's  views  are  taken,  they  will  agree 
exactly  in  this  prime  necessity.  How  souls  may  be 
brought  from  the  kingdom  of  Satan  to  the  kingdom 
of  God's  dear  Son,  is  the  central  question  to  which  the 
CI  lurch,  in  proportion  as  she  is  quickened  to  the  clear 
perception  of  spiritual  truth  and  to  a  Christlike  long- 
ing for  its  victories,  will  bend  her  constant  endeavors. 
So  when  men  are  aroused  to  desire,  pray  and  plan  for 
a  work  of  grace,  it  includes  as  one  of  its  essential  ele- 
ments the  conversion  of  men.  And  when  God,  by  a 
sovereign  agency  of  the  Spirit,  descends  with  power 
on  any  community,  conviction  of  sin  and  conversion 
to  God  are  results  of  that  power. 

Another  objective  point  in  every  revival,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense  the  initial  point,  is  the  quickening  of  God's 
people  to  a  higher  and  holier  Christian  life.  It  aims 
at  character  as  truly  as  at  conversion.  The  ideal  re- 
vival of  the  future  will  begin  here.  The  stream  ever 
refuses  to  rise  higher  than  the  fountain.  The  young 
converts  will  not  rise  to  a  plane  of  Christian  living 
much  higher  than  the  general  level  of  church  life,  by 
which  they  are  surrounded.  True  religion  not  only 
saves  unto  heaven,  but  saves  from  sin.     Conversion 


REVIEW    AND   PROSPECT.  467 

is  a  "blessing  to  the  unsaved  masses  around  the 
churches  in  proportion  as  that  to  which  they 
are  converted  is,  by  its  professors,  evidenced  to 
he  a  high,  holy  and  life- trail  storming  thing.  Therefore, 
that  a  revival  may  be  of  utmost  value — it  must  bap- 
tize the  church  with  its  sacred  power.  There  must  be 
more  consecration  of  heart  and  more  holiness  of  life. 
The  flower  of  it  must  he  a  fairer  and  purer  character. 
In  any  age,  a  church  that  lias  life  enough  to  desire  a 
revival,  will  desire  that  it  may  begin  at  the  house  of 
Israel,  realizing  more  or  less  keenly  that  only  the 
hearts  the  Holy  Ghost  has  shaped  are  tit  vessels  to 
carry  wrater  to  the  dying. 

In  this  end  of  a  revival  there  is,  therefore,  a  unani- 
mous consent  in  every  period  of  our  revival  history. 
Perhaps,  by  reason  of  the  deadness  of  the  church  in 
1740  and  1800,  it  was  more  earnestly  felt  than  it  has 
been  in  later  days.  To  those  whose  eyes  God  had 
unsealed,  the  church  looked  as  it  did  to  the  prophet, 
like  a  valley  of  dry  and  rattling  bones,  destitute  of 
every  sign  of  life,  and  compelling  the  half-doubting 
inquiry,  "  Can  these  bones  live?"  But  in  every  gen- 
eration godly  men  have  perceived  that  even  the  Holy 
Spirit  could  not  work  for  the  conversion  of  sinners  ef- 
fectively over  the  head  of  a  prostrate  and  lifeless 
church.  People  outside  of  the  church,  caring  noth- 
ing for  conversion,  are  loud  in  their  demand  for  bet- 
ter character,  and  their  appreciation  for  religion  de- 
pends on  its  transforming  power.  Errorists,  differing 
from  evangelical  Christians  in  their  estimate  of  what 
a  revival  is,  unite  in  saying,  that  a  revival  of  character, 
of  honesty,  purity  and  integrity,  will  be  the  salvation 


468  TIMES  OF   REFRESHING. 

of  the  country.  Thirty  years  ago  Theodore  Parker 
said,  "  The  revival  we  need  will  come  from  long-con- 
tinued peace  and  the  faithful  adherence  to  industrial 
pursuits  and  virtuous  living."  Radically  as  he  was 
mistaken  in  the  source  of  the  needed  revival,  his 
words  speak  the  world's  common  and  right  demand 
as  to  its  character.  Matthew  Arnold's  phrase  about 
the  culture  that  "  makes  for  righteousness,"  encloses 
the  same  idea.  Religion,  to  prove  its  divinity,  must 
mould  the  daily  conduct.  A  characteristic  of  pres- 
ent revivals,  shaped  by  a  great  public  necessity,  is  the 
stress  that  is  laid  on  the  need  of  holiness  in  the  church. 
The  revivals  of  this  day  are  eminently  revivals  of 
character. 

The  church  is  thus  absolutely  at  one  in  the  two 
great  ends  of  a  revival,  and  the  present  differs  noth- 
ing from  the  past  in  declaring  the  reformation  of  sin- 
ners and  the  quickening  of  saints  are  that  binary 
star  whose  beams  indistinguishably  blend  in  every 
true  work  of  grace. 

There  is  also  absolute  unity  between  Whitefield  and 
Moody  in  their  views  of  the  doctrines,  essential  to 
this  double  purpose,  while  the  forms  of  teaching  vary 
from  age  to  age. 

Let  us  consider  the  preaching  of  the  several 
periods  as  related  to  the  great  ends  of  conver- 
sion and  sanctification.  This  generation  is  often  fe- 
licitated upon  the  progress  it  has  made  in  theology, 
and  on  the  change  there  has  come  over  the  theologi-. 
cal  character  of  preaching.  The  hard,  stern  doctrines 
of  Edwards,  it  is  said,  are  supplanted  by  a  gentler  and 
milder  gospel.    A  close  study,  however,  of  the  several 


REVIEW   AND    PROSPECT.  46 1! 

revival  periods  will  not  justify  these  statements.  The- 
ology, considered  objectively  as  a  revelation  from  God? 
is  always  the  same.  The  preaching  of  Paul,  there! ore, 
strikes  home  to  every  age  and  condition  of  the  world.  So 
Whitefield  and  Edwards,  and  Nettleton  and  Baker,  and 
Finney  and  Hammond  and  Moody,  preach  essentially 
the  same  doctrines.  The  differences  between  them  are 
differences  of  topics  and  form,  and  only  in  very  lim- 
ited degree,  differences  of  views  upon  fundamental 
doctrines.  Thus  they  all  preach  the  universal  sinful- 
ness and  guilt,  the  need  of  regeneration,  the  sover- 
eignty and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  necessity  of 
faith  in  Christ  and  a  holy  life.  The  preaching  of 
one  age  does  not,  to  superficial  attention,  sound  the 
same  as  that  of  another.  Thus,  for  example,  when 
Jonathan  Edwards  laid  his  hand  on  the  veil  men  had 
drawn  over  their  consciences  and  tore  it  from  top  to 
bottom,  they  trembled  and  cried  aloud  for  mercy.  It 
was  an  unsparing  disclosure  of  sin  and  guilt.  "We 
have  nothing  like  it  now.  But  it  existed  then,  not 
because  his  doctrine  was  different  from  ours  to-day 
or  because  human  nature  was  different;  but,  because 
formality,  worldliness  and  spiritual  deadness  had  pre- 
pared for  the  preacher  an  awful  background  on  which 
to  project  the  pictures  of  Divine  truth.  This  antece- 
dent moral  condition  of  the  church  colored  the  doc- 
trine and  shaped  its  awful  tones. 

There  has  indeed,  been  progress  in  the  science  of 
theology.  Its  guns  cover  a  wider  horizon,  and  are 
trained  to  meet  new  and  changing  forms  of  error. 
But  the  Word  of  God  in  its  central  relations  to  the 
soul,  its  sin,  guilt,  pardon   and  hope,  is  a  changeless 


470  TIMES    OF  REFRESHING. 

tact.  The  more  profoundly  revival  history  is  studied, 
the  more  deeply  will  we  realize  that  the  depths  of  hu- 
man necessity  answer  forever  to  the  depths  of  Divine 
truth.  Not  only  so,  but  while  a  progressive  theology 
wins  new  triumphs  on  new  fields  of  history,  criticism 
and  science,  and  while  the  study  and  defense  of  this 
ever- widening  range  of  knowledge  is  pressed  upon 
Christian  scholars  as  of  increasing  importance,  the 
range  of  subjects  brought  into  revival  work  is  rela- 
tively narrow.  Peter  and  Paul  in  their  calls  to  the 
people  to  repent  and  believe,  to  flee  sin  and  cleave  to 
Christ,  and  live  by  faith  on  Him,  give  the  key  to  all 
the  preaching  that  in  every  time  has  been  most 
blessed  to  the  salvation  of  souls.  They  then  who  would 
be  instrumental  in  bringing  waves  of  salvation 
in  revival  power  over  the  people,  must  concenter  their 
energy  and  faith  and  the  popular  attention  upon  the 
old  and  tried  doctrines  of  grace.  No  power  is  gained 
by  going  beyond  them. 

While,  however,  between  the  creed  of  the  earl}7  reviv- 
alists and  those  of  our  own  day,  there  is  little  difference 
in  the  essential  points,  and  Geo.  Whitefield  and  D.  L. 
Moody  and  D.  W.  Whittle  would  preach  regenera- 
tion, justification  and  sanctification  in  the  same  terms, 
the  early  and  later  evangelists  speak  the  several  parts 
of  this  one  creed  with  widely  varying  emphasis. 
That  variation  is  caused  by  conditions  in  the  Church 
and  the  world.  The  thunder  gets  its  intonation  from 
the  shape  of  the  mountains  amid  which  it  breaks,  and 
God's  voice,  sovereign  and  compassing  all  needs,  gets 
an  accent  from  the  human  condition  into  which  it 
falls.    Thus,  in  1740,  worldliness  enslaved  the  Church, 


KEVIEW    AND    PROSPECT.  471 

benumbed  and  deadened  the  conscience.  There  was 
only  one  bolt  heavy  enough  to  break  that  slumber  and 
startle  the  inactive  conscience  to  activity.  That  was 
the  truth  of  God's  justice  launched  from  the  height  of 
his  eternal  purpose.  Whitefield  and  the  Edwards 
and  Tennents  saw  the  necessity  and  took  their  stand 
upon  Sinai.  Their  theology,  necessitated  by  the  con- 
dition of  the  nation,  took  its  departure  from  the  sov- 
ereignty of  God.  This  fact  gave  form  to  their 
preaching. 

What  is  the  general  moral  condition  in  the  pres- 
ence of  which  our  present  evangelists  stand?  A 
doubt  of  the  personal  Christ,  a  denial  of  the  divine 
Christ,  a  ruthless,  destructive  criticism  of  atonement 
through  Christ.  The  battle  now  is  not  with  orthodox 
deadness,  but  with  Christless  spiritual  activity.  It 
requires  only  a  passing  observation  to  see  that  Jesus 
and  his  person  and  work  is  the  rallying  point  toward 
which  forces  from  fields  of  apparently  remotest  inter- 
est are  massing  to  share  in  this  Armageddon  of  the 
world's  greatest  struggle.  Here  the  devil  centres  his 
legions.  He  cares  nothing  for  a  doubtful  interpreta- 
tion of  Genesis,  nothing  for  a  conflict  around  the 
philosophy  of  evolution,  except  as  these  strategic 
movements  lead  on  to  the  Cross.  The  great  captain 
of  the  hosts  of  darkness  accepts  as  allies,  to  make 
tentative  advances  on  different  fields  of  criticism  or 
science,  every  kind  of  skeptical  battle-line.  But  the 
real  and  final  stake  with  him  is  Christ  and  his  Cross. 
However  innocent  of  this  ultimate  intent  may  be  the 
devotees  of  false  science  in  its  array  against  certain 
parts  «>f  revelation,  let  us  remember  the  final  end  in 


472  TIMES    OF   REFRESHING. 

the  interest  of  which.  Satan  moves  every  column,  is 
this  daring  and  awful  one,  the  destruction  of  Christi- 
anity. Therefore,  more  and  more,  in  our  own  and 
other  countries,  the  religious  battle  of  the  age  is 
Christological.  The  batteries  are  unveiled,  and  the 
Cross  is  seen  to  be  the  center  of  the  gathering  col- 
umns. So  Christian  and  anti-Christian  literature 
are  chiefly  concerned  with  a  personal  Savior.  Fate, 
free-will  and  fore-knowledge  do  not  agitate  the 
Church  as  once  they  did.  The  infidelity  of  1800, 
that  rudely  boasted  that  it  would  obliterate  the  Bible, 
-the  rationalism  of  a  generation  ago,  that  questioned 
the  personality  of  God  and  the  possibility  of  a  revela- 
tion, are  exchanged  for  a  rationalism  that  questions 
the  personality  of  Jesus,  and  the  efficacy  of  his  blood. 
In  France,  Germany,  England  and  our  own  land,  no 
discussions  awaken  such  interest  as  those  which  raise 
the  question  of  Christ's  position  among  the  children 
of  men.  Witness  the  thronged  and  breathless  audi- 
ences of  Cook,  as  he  plunges  into  the  heart  of  this 
great  theme,  and  vindicates  Christ's  name  to  a  place 
above  every  name  that  is  named. 

Now  this  prominent  fact  bears  directly  and  evi- 
dently upon  all  the  preaching,  and  especially  on  the 
revival  preaching  of  this  time. 

Preaching,  by  all  the  trend  of  these  later  years,  is, 
and  ought  to  be,  the  lifting  up  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
guns  must  be  mounted  on  the  assaulted  rampart. 
And  that  not  alone  for  speculative  and  argumentative 
purposes.  For  moral  and  immediate  spiritual  ends 
as  well,  the  preacher  may  give  a  more  passing 
emphasis  to  other  parts  of  the  broad    scheme   of  re- 


REVIEW   AND    PROSPECT.  4:7*3 

demption  and  throw  the  weight  of  argument  and 
appeal  on  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Dr.  Kirk  says: 
"The  aim  of  the  revival  preacher  is  to  produce  im- 
mediate and  personal  results."  Immediate  results 
can  no  way  be  so  readily  reached  as  by  taking  men 
on  the  line  either  of  their  present  interest  or  present 
need.  Therefore  let  Edwards  preach  to  the  con- 
science. Even  in  its  death  it  will  side  with  the 
preacher  as  he  arraigns  it  at  the  bar  of  God.  And 
let  our  preacher  now,  hold  the  sinner's  breast  open  to 
the  glance  of  a  living  Christ,  who  sees  and  can  un- 
fold the  half-confessed  longings  of  the  heart. 

Again  if,  as  Dr.  Kirk  says,  the  end  of  revival 
preaching  is  to  produce  personal  results,  how  better 
shall  it  be  done,  than  by  bringing  two  persons  vividly 
together — the  sinner,  conscious  of  sin  and  dimly  con- 
scious also  of  a  need  of  pardon,  and  a  Savior,  with  a 
personal  touch  of  love  and  sympathy  and  help? 

This  then  is  the  characteristic  and  (on  the  side  of 
truth)  the  power  ot  present  revival  preaching.  It 
holds  all  the  circle  of  the  old  doctrines  of  grace,  but 
pressed  by  the  state  of  religious  opinion  in  the  denials 
of  Christ,  and  by  a  consequent  popular  sense  of  the 
need  of  Christ,  (for  with  ns  as  with  Peter,  the  denial 
of  Christ,  and  the  feeling  of  its  guilt  are  not  far  apart), 
the  emphasis  of  modern  preaching  is  a  personal 
Savior,  Son  of  man  and  Son  of  God.  This  personal- 
ism  of  the  preaching  is  philosophically  allied  to  a 
sharp  sense  of  individual  responsibility.  It  leads  on 
the  confession  of  sin  and  the  confession  of  Christ. 
When  he  speaks  with  a  living  voice,  as  he  did  to  Mary, 
the  cry  of  worship  springs  readily  to   the  lips.     And 


A74:  TIMES  OF  KEFRE&ULNG. 

now,  as  ever,  it  is  proven  true,  when  lie  is  lifted  up 
He  draws  men  unto  him. 

So  not  without  reason  in  the  revival  of  the  past 
twenty  years  a  gentler  form  of  spiritual  counsel  has 
prevailed  to  such  an  extent  as  to  give  rise  to  the  crit- 
icism, that  our  present  revival  teaching  is  superficial 
and  shallow  when  compared  with  the  stern  and  scath- 
ing language  of  the  first  preachers.  The  self-search  - 
ings  and  self-loathings  of  a  century  ago,  are  now 
veiled  under  the  winning  invitation  u  Come  to  Jesus." 
To  critics,  who  judge  by  surface-sound  it  has  become 
a  stock  phrase  without  depth  or  meaning,  perhaps  a 
cant  phrase  on  which  exhorters  ring  the  changes  at  re- 
vival meetings,  or  at  best  an  unmeaning  sentiment 
which  deceives  inquirers  with  the  glitter  of  an  idea 
destitute  of  real  comfort  and  power. 

But  this  is  not  true.  The  form  of  the  message  in 
which  conversion  is  set  forth  has  changed,  but  not  its 
substance.  "  Coming  to  Christ,"  means  the  same  thing 
as  the  severer,  fuller  and  more  theologic  terminology 
of  Edwards  and  Whitefield. 

Neither  is  it  to  be  admitted  that  from  a  philosophic 
view  the  preaching  of  "  Come  to  Jesus,"  is  less  effec- 
tive in  the  arousal  of  conscience,  and  in  the  sharp 
sense  of  sin  and  responsibility,  or  inferior  in  these  re- 
spects to  the  legal  preaching  of  the  old  divines.  We 
will  gain  power,  not  lose  it,  when  we  clearly  per- 
ceive that  conversion  is  not  coming  to  the  truth,  how- 
ever pungent  and  humbling  it  may  be,  but  it  is  ac- 
cepting the  concrete  fact  of  Jesus  Christ  slain  for 
our  sins;  that  the  world's  spiritual  help  is  not  to  come 
through  anv  moral  philosophy,  however  true  or  awak- 


REVIEW    AND    PROSPECT.  475 

ening,  but  through  the  life  and  death  of  a  person. 
There  is  no  moral  base  so  firm  as  that  which  the  per- 
sonality of  the  our  religion  furnishes.  Every  form  of 
heathen  theology  is  the  basis  of  a  wrong  system  of 
morals,  because  without  a  personal  God  there  is  pos- 
sible no  rigid  sense  of  moral  accountability.  The 
scale  slides  to  suit  the  shifting  occasion.  But  not  only 
must  there  be  a  supreme  God,  he  must  stand  revealed 
to  us.  Spencer's  God  is,  for  spiritual  ends,  no  better 
than  none  at  all.  The  nearer  God  stands  to  us  while 
yet  he  is  truly  God,  the  better  defined  do  our  moral 
relations  to  him  become.  And  this  comes  to  pass  in 
the  person  of  Jesus.  Coming  to  him  is  rising  to  that 
point  of  view  from  which  a  perfect  and  conscience- 
arousing  system  of  morals,  like  stars  at  sea,  wheel 
solemnly  into  view.  Philosophy  says,  "  Come  to 
right  morals  and  a  broad  system  of  right  living,  that 
you  may  get  into  right  relations  with  God."  Christ 
says,  "  Come  unto  me,  that  you  may  see  sin  and  duty 
and  responsibility."  Some  one  wisely  says,  "  Con- 
viction at  Calvary  is  deeper  than  conviction  at  Sinai." 
There  can  be  no  spiritual  life  without  a  sense  of  sin. 
There  can  be  no  deep  sense  of  sin  without  a  view  of 
its  true  character  as  opposition  to  God;  there  is  no 
such  view  of  the  nature  of  sin  as  opposing  God  as  ap- 
pears from  the  standpoint  of  the  incarnation;  the  hum- 
bling, bruising,  crushing  of  the  Son  of  God;  therefore, 
to  attain  the  life  which  comes  through  a  knowledge  and 
abhorrence  of  sin,  that  is  to  be  converted,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  come  to  Him  who  was  "wounded  for  our 
transgressions  and  bruised  for  our  iniquities." 

"  Coming  to  Jesus"  then,  is  a  winning  phrase  which 


4?6  TIMES   OF   REFRESHING. 

lias  in  it  all  the  old  theology — a  diamond  in  whose 
heart  are  the  storms  and  darkness  and  light  of  many 
ages  of  revelation  and  human  history.  Sinai  and  Cal- 
vary blend  there,  and  while  it  may  be  superficially? 
because  ignoranlly  spoken,  it  may  also  disclose  depths 
more  profound  than  human  logic  can  measure. 

III.  As  the  direct  consequence  of  the  simplified 
theology  of  the  present  revival  era  there  has  risen 
another  and  most  important  difference  between  early 
and  present  revivals.  The  number  of  preachers  is 
greatly  increased,  revivals  are  multiplied  by  the  mul- 
tiplication of  revival  preachers.  Pastors,  with  per- 
haps a  larger  faith  in  the  blessings  of  revival,  preach 
more  directly  and  plan  more  earnestly  to  that  end. 
Revivals  are  more  generally  expected,  and  therefore, 
are  more  frequently  enjoyed. 

Besides,  there  is  an  increasing  number  of  lay  preach- 
ers. It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  there  were 
none  in  the  first  revivals  in  this  country.  President 
Ed  wards  says  that  in  his  time  "  Some  laymen  were 
in  some  respects  under  greater  advantages  to  encour- 
age and  forward  this  work  than  ministers."  Still  their 
labors  by  no  means  occupied  the  place  to  which  they 
have  now  attained.  Of  the  limitations  of  lay-evan- 
gelism mention  has  elsewhere  been  made;  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  the  present  purpose  to  remind  the  reader, 
that  never  in  the  history  of  the  world  were  there  so 
many  hearts  realizing  the  privilege  of  a  Christian 
priesthood,  and  speaking,  as  opportunity  offered,  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

Another  distinguishing  feature  of  modern  revival 
agencies  is  in  the  conventions  and  associations  of  va- 


REVIEW    AND    PROSPECT.  477 

rious  kinds  now  so  extensively  held  for  the  special 
purpose  of  aiding  the  revival  work  of  the  church. 
k,The  inhabitants  of  one  city  go  to  another  city"  and 
pray  and  plan  and  labor  for  the  rapid  coming  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ. 

The  results  of  these  conferences  are  enlarged  knowl- 
edge of  the  Bible,  and  consequent  better  aptitude  to 
teach  its  truths,  wider  experience  of  methods  most 
effective  in  gathering  the  people  and  impressing  the 
truth,  and  above  all,  an  increase  of  faith  and  fervor  in 
the  work  of  winning  souls.  Granted  that  the  plans 
developed  are  not  always  either  wise  or  practicable. 
In  their  application  this  will  soon  be  demonstrated, 
and  they  will  either  be  improved  or  abandoned.  After 
the  chaif  there  will  be  found  a  residuum  of  wheat, 
and  through  experience,  even  of  failures,  the  church 
goes  on.  By  these  various  methods  the  voices  that 
call  men  to  Christ,  are  both  multiplied  and  qualified. 
Salvation  comes  through  the  hearing  of  the  truth, 
and  too  many  preachers  ordained,  or  unordained,  can- 
not be  sent  into  the  great  world-field,  provided  only 
they  be  sound  of  head  and  heart. 

The  directions  in  which  the  activity  of  Christian 
women  is  being  brought  to  bear  upon  revival  work, 
as  shown  in  a  preceding  chapter,  present  another 
hopeful  contrast  of  later  and  earlier  revivals.  In  the 
inquiry  room,  in  Bible  and  temperance  work  and  in 
house-to-house  visitation  the  natural  and  the  sancti- 
fied influence  of  Christian  womanhood  is  brought  into 
direct  contact  with  the  work  of  saving  souls.  How  it 
often  wins  attention,  and  leads  to  decision — when 
other  agencies  had  failed — every  one  of  the  revivals 
of  the  past  few  years  could  give  abundant  evidence. 


478  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

The  Sunday  School  also  draws  its  lines  of  instruc- 
tion closer  around  the  idea  of  salvation.  Teachers 
are  no  longer  content  to  labor  only  for  the  catachetical 
or  Biblical  instruction  of  the  children.  Before  every 
class  hovers  the  Bethlehem  star,  and  they  are  wisest 
teachers  who  by  its  single  light  guide  their  scholars 
to  Jesus.  Hence  revivals  beginning  in  the  Sunday 
School  are  neither  uncommon  nor  discredited.  The 
simpler  theology  of  this  day — simpler,  and  yet  not 
less  profound  than  that  of  a  century  ago — invites- 
childhood  to  the  arms  of  Christ  in  terms  which  can 
be  readily  understood  and  obeyed.  And  the  time  is 
gone  by  forever,  when  a  revival  shall  be  considered 
complete,  that  does  not  stoop  to  the  Sunday  school 
class  and  the  home  circle,  gathering  some  of  its 
brightest  trophies  in  the  lives  of  those,  standing  in 
the  midst  of  whom  on  earth,  Jesus  spoke  his  tender- 
est  words  of  invitation  and  whom  he  made  the  types 
of  his  kingdom,  "Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
me,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven. " 

IV.  Comparing  past  and  present  revivals  in  regard 
of  the  outer  agencies,  or  machinery,  if  such  a  word 
may  be  used,  it  is  manifest  the  compass  and  the  num- 
ber of  those  agencies  has  been  vastly  enlarged.  It 
cannot  be  said  our  revivals  are  deeper  than  those  of 
a  century  ago.  They  do  not  produce  fruit  in  more 
decided  or  devoted  followers  of  Christ.  But  they 
are  broader.  The  Church  has  anew,  and  with 
loftiest  purpose,  undertaken  the  commission  to  evan- 
gelize the  world.  In  this  she  has  many  allies.  The 
newspaper,  the  railroad,  and  the  telegraph  are  called 
to  the  service  of  revivals,  and  grand,  indeed,  has  been 


REVIEW    AND    PROSPECT.  479 

the  service  they  have  recently  rendered.  They  have 
called  people  from  homes  and  shops  and  distant  cities 
in  countless  throngs  to  hear  the  gospel.  To  give 
room  to  those  throngs,  great  tabernacles,  with  every 
appliance  for  comfort  and  successful  work,  have  been 
erected.  Within  and  around  them  "religious  cam- 
paigns" have  been  organized  and  conducted  with  con- 
summate generalship  and  in  the  sublime  purpose  of 
taking  all  the  world  for  Jesus.  Under  that  general- 
ship every  class  of  society  has  been  approached  on 
whatever  line  of  influence  promised  greatest  efficiency 
and  power.  With  some  the  packed  inquiry  room, 
with  some  a  service  for  kindred  callings,  with  others, 
visitation  in  the  home  or  the  office.  Some  have  been 
brought  face  to  face  with  Calvary  at  once,  others  have 
first  been  fed,  clothed,  sobered,  encouraged  by  human 
kindness  and  then  led  up  to  the  great  question  of 
eternal  life.  So  broad  have  been  these  agencies, 
planned  with  such  skill  and  driven  with  such  faith, 
that  mountains  of  difficulty  have  been  whelmed  under 
the  revival  waves,  and  the  hopeless  and  abandoned, 
as  well  as  the  attentive,  life-long  hearers  of  the  Word 
and  children  in  life's  impressible  morning,  have  all 
been  gathered  to  the  standard  of  the  Cross.  It  is  no 
disparagement  of  any  other  revival  era,  to  say  (nay, 
rather  it  is  the  fruit  of  the  Church's  long  experience 
in  all  eras)  that  never  was  the  world  so  wound  round 
and  round  with  a  net-work  of  holy  agencies  to  draw- 
it  to  the  feet  of  Christ,  as  in  these  days  of  the  broad, 
systematic  "campaigning"  of  the  army  of  the  Lord. 
In  the  light  now  of  the  past  history  of  revivals  in 
our  land;   their  impress  on  the  dawn  of  our  national 


480  TIMES    OF    REFRESHING. 

life;  their  increasing  breadth  by  which  they  reach 
over  our  enlarging  territory,  and  compass  all  the  con- 
ditions of  our  multiform  society;  the  growing  faith  in 
them,  by  which  they  tend  more  and  more  from  the 
exceptional  and  spasmodic,  to  the  normal  and  con- 
tinuous state  of  church  life  and  work,  who  shall 
measure  their  future  connection  with  our  history,  or 
their  influence  on  our  destiny? 

We  are  in  the  midst  of  difficult  social  ques- 
tions. Unsolved  and  vital  problems  shade  some- 
what the  gleam  of  the  future's  promise.  Every- 
where there  rises  into  clearer  outline  the  con- 
viction that  somehow  in  Truth  and  Righteousness, 
that  are  above  the  turmoil  and  whirl  of  earthly 
collisions,  that  shall  come  to  us  from  the  calmness  and 
wisdom  of  Heaven,  alone  will  be  found  the  medicine 
for  our  healing.  From  the  political  economist,  and 
the  philanthropist  and  moralist,  men  turn  to  a  "divine 
philosophy."  The  Delphic  oracle  of  human  wisdom 
with  its  politic  uncertainty  is  failing  us.  The  cry  of 
the  old  Greek's  despair  rings  through  our  nation, 
"Pan  is  dead."  Not  in  ideal  government,  in  litera- 
ture or  commerce  can  America  safely  rest  her  last  de- 
pendence. Our  railroad  lines,  and  telegraph  lines, 
that  intersecting  every  whither  "demonstrate  the 
problem  of  our  greatness,"  demonstrate  also  the 
incapacity  of  greatness  to  save  us.  Our  very  expan- 
sion threatens  our  unity,  and  our  industries  are 
fraught  with  peril  to  the  enterprise  and  power  which 
they  suggest.  Already  the  despotisms  and  the  aris- 
tocracies of  the  old  world  are  sighting  glasses  across 
the  sea  to   note  the  tottering  of  a  fabric  they  have 


REVIEW    AND   PROSPECT.  481 

long  pronounced  as  ephemeral  as  it  is  brilliant. 
Meanwhile,  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  our 
prosperity,  and  far  into  the  depth  of  our  nation's  best 
thought  there  is  a  significant  pause  and  silence.  The 
factories  on  our  eastern  coast,  with  the  wheels  of 
o^reat  enterprises  poised  on  their  axles,  are  waiting. 
The  mines  of  western  mountains,  lean  into  their  dark- 
ness, and  listen  for  a  word  that  shall  assure  success- 
ful venture  before  they  load  the  shaft.  The  great 
markets  of  commerce  move  cautiously — listening  be- 
tween every  trade  across  the  counter  and  every  tran- 
saction in  the  halls  of  exchange,  and  the  ships  rock 
idly  in  the  harbor,  till  from  restored  public  confidence 
and  adjusted  social  relations  shall  come  a  healthful 
and  hopeful  breeze  to  swell  their  sails.  But  "Dodona's 
oak  is  riven,"  and  the  oracles  are  silent.  A  confused 
murmur  of  many  voices  but  increases  uncertainty, 
while  the  economist  talks  of  supply  and  demand,  and 
the  politician  talks  of  police  and  laws,  and  obedience, 
and  the  philanthropist  lectures  on  brotherhood  and 
charity,  and  the  moralist  pleads  for  "  virtuous  liv- 
ing," and  honesty  and  righteousness  of  man  with 
man.  But  many  are  the  guide-boards  of  Providence 
that  point  to  the  truth.  These  voices  in  their  com- 
mingling shape  a  truth  higher  than  their  separate 
philosophy  dreams.  The  steps  and  the  voice  for  which 
Eastern  factories  and  Western  mines  and  crowded 
marts  and  lonely  prairies  and  silent  seas  are  waiting, 
are  the  steps  and  the  voice  of  the  Galilean.  Through 
His  conquest  comes  our  peace. 

Upon  this  point  what  do  the  history  and  philosophy 
of  revivals  say?     God  in  the  interests  of  his  kingdom, 


482  TIMES  OF  REFRESHING. 

which  is  also  our  kingdom,  shapes  every  human  force 
and  agency.  As  we  have  seen,  even  national  troubles 
and  disasters  pave  the  way  for  the  more  victorious 
march  of  the  gospel.  As  through  a  million  impal- 
pable influences  of  heaven,  earth  and  sea,  he  brings  on 
that  wave  of  mingled  light  and  warmth  which  men 
call  spring,  so  by  countless  agencies,  and  by  invisible 
but  mighty  providences,  he  prepares  the  revivals 
which  bring  the  flush  of  heaven  to  earth.  If  the  past 
teaches  us  any  lesson  clearly,  it  is  this;  revivals  of 
religion  are  passing  from  the  extraordinary  to  the 
ordinary  fact  in  the  life  of  the  Church,  from  occasion- 
al and  relatively  passing  effects  on  national  life  to  fac- 
tors of  such  persistent  and  widening  power,  as  more 
and  more  to  determine  that  life. 

A  wave  of  feeling  lays  its  hand  for  an  instant  on  the 
granite  of  unbelief,  only  to  fall  helplessly  back. 
The  almighty  force  of  the  tide  unites  heaven  and  earth 
in  its  victorious  movement.     A  thousand  streamlets 

11  Draw  down  iEonian  hills,  and  sow 
The  dust  of  continents  to  be," 

and  so  all  spiritual  force,  however  slight  and  slow,  in 
the  feeblest  church,  in  the  lowliest  heart,  makes  solid 
ground  for  future  life.  But  revivals  are  to  individual 
life  and  activity,  what  tide-waves  are  to  streamlets. 
T^h ey  close  around  social  and  national  stagnation,  as 
with  the  uplifting  clasp  of  the  arms  of  God.  They 
have  saved  Germany,  and  the  Netherlands,  and 
Switzerland,  and  England,  and  Ireland,  and  Scotland. 
By  blessed  confluence  of  mighty  human  endeavor  in 
the  hearts  of  Whiteiield  and  the  Edwards   and   Ten- 


REVIEW    AND    PROSPECT.  483 

nents,  and  supreme  divine  grace,  a  revival  lifted 
the  nation  from  the  perils  of  dishonesty  and  hypocrisy 
in  1740.  By  combination  of  heavenly  influences  to 
compute  which  our  mathematics  are  powerless,  a 
revival  bore  our  vessel  of  national  life  from  the  sands 
of  French  infidelity  which  threatened  it  with  decay 
and  rot,  in  1800.  By  upward  drawings  of  the  heart 
of  the  Church  in  universal  prayer,  as  the  moon  and 
stars  uplift  the  sea,  the  nation  was  saved  from  a  de- 
vouring reign  of  greed  and  speculation  in  1858.  And 
now  in  this  time  of  anxious  thought,  one  sign  may 
well  outweigh  our  fears.  The  truths  of  God  are 
above  us  like  stars  in  the  sky,  and  human  hearts  are 
pliant  water  under  their  golden  lines.  In  Nova 
Scotia  the  Atlantic  marches  inland  with  a  glittering 
front  forty  feet  high.  Are  revivals  the  tides  of  God? 
Then  there  is  heavenly  law  in  their  movement,  and 
by  their  prevalence  everywhere  and  their  continuance 
always,  they  will  more  than  match  all  our  waiting 
problems  and  overflow  all  our  hidden  perils.  But  their 
prevalence  and  continuance  are  at  the  command  of 
the  Church.  They  move  to  the  drawings  of  truth, 
faith,  prayer,  and  service.  How  resistless  the  union 
when  the  hand  of  human  faith  clasps  the  hand  of 
God!  How  responsible  the  position  of  the  American 
Church!  If  she  is  faithful  to  her  sublime  place  as 
meditator  between  the  Throne  and  the  nation,  how  the 
abiding  works  of  the  Spirit  may  light  up  all  our 
country's  path!  How  firm  and  free  she  may  set  her 
prow  against  the  sunrise  of  the  world's  best  day! 
The  breath  of  God  will  expand  her  sails  and  the 
waves  of  God  buoy  up  her  keel. 


